A Little Help From Our Friends
by OnlyYouForever
Summary: What if someone from Alicia and Will's past pops back into their lives and helps them mend their relationship? Set in season 5 right around The Decision Tree time…
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first ever fic and something that just planted itself in my brain and wouldn't leave until I transferred it to paper. At the insistence (nagging) of two of my girls whom I adore, I am posting it here. As the summary states, someone from Alicia and Will's past reappears. Enter my OC. AU-ish with an attempt to stick to some of what happens on the show.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the show or its characters. The only ones that belong to me are Lucy and Tess Wilde. If I did, I don't think my brain would feel the need to create a universe where Will Gardner still exists. But I digress…**

**I don't know where this came from. But, I'm rolling with it. And I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

Alicia sat back in her chair, shocked by what Clarke had just informed her of.

_Twelve million dollars? _she thought to herself. _Why the hell would Matthew Ashbaugh leave that to me? _Of course, the mere mention of Ashbaugh sends Alicia's mind back to _that time._ But, before she can submerge herself into her sea of memories, the phone on her desk buzzes.

"Mrs. Florrick, your 10:30 interview is here." Her assistant, Sondra, informs her.

_My what..? _she thinks to herself. Then she remembers that she and Cary were reconsidering Robyn and decided to interview possible replacements. This must be one of them.

"Oh..ok. I'll be right there. Let me just grab Cary."

She took a few moments and a few deep breaths to regain her composure and clear her mind of all memories of _him. _She stood up from her chair, put on one of her best smiles and walked out of her office. When Cary glanced in her direction, she simply nodded her head toward the reception area and he immediately moved to join her.

"You do remember that you scheduled an interview for this morning, don't you?" she asked him.

"I..I..do. I just didn't realize it was time already. Did you have a chance to look over her resume?"

She winced at the realization that she was just about to do that when she was rudely interrupted by that ass, Damian Boyle. "Dammit."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it. I did and I have a copy for you to look over while we talk to her."

He gave her a reassuring smile, which she returned.

When they reached reception, he stepped forward and called out, "Miss Wilde? Lucy…Wilde?"

Alicia snapped to attention and looked at him. "Wilde..? Lucy..?" As she turns to look for her, she hears her.

"Alicia?"

The smile on her face instantly replaced by one of pure joy, Alicia immediately embraces the dark haired young woman in a hug. "Lucy! My little Lucy, look at you. You're all grown up."

"Alicia Cavanaugh, it's been way too long."

"It's Florrick, remember? It hasn't been that long. I was already married with children last time I saw you."

"Oh right! Florrick. I forgot you married that douchebag." Alicia couldn't help but giggle. "Wait..Florrick? As in..Florrick, Agos & Associates?" Alicia smiled and nodded. "Crap. I'm sorry. I had no idea. That's not why I applied. I swear. Ugh. This is exactly why I didn't apply to Lockhart/Gardner."

"Whoa. Ok, honey. Breathe." Alicia says calmly. "It's not a big deal." Cary clears his throat and she is reminded of his presence. "Oh! Cary..this is Lucy Wilde. Lucy..my partner, Cary Agos. I went to school with her sister." she explains to him. "Come on, let's go into the conference room."

Once seated, Cary passes the folder Sondra handed him with Lucy's resume in it to Alicia. His attention turns to the younger brunette when he hears her speak up.

"Oh no, please. Don't bother. I take back my application."

Alicia looked up at her, amused. "What? You can't just take it back, Lucy."

"Well, I don't want you to consider it."

"Is it because you know Alicia personally?" asked Cary, to which she nodded. "Well, I mean, that's understandable. But, I'm sorry." He chuckled. "I've seen your resume; we won't let you take it back. I already wanted to hire you before I met you." Alicia glanced over to him and raised an eyebrow in amusement. Ignoring her, he continued while she turned back to the resume in her hand. "So, is that why you opted not to apply to LG? You know someone there, too?"

"I do. Will Gardner." She replied, noting how quickly Cary turned to Alicia and the deep breath she took. "Um..when they were all in law school, my parents died in a boating accident." She started to explain. "We didn't have any other family and of course we inherited everything from them, my sister and I. Tess, refused to let anyone else raise me. So, she, along with Will and your partner.." she gestured to Alicia who finally raised her head and smiled at her. ".. became my pseudo parents."

Before Cary could process this information and formulate a response, Alicia spoke up. "You went back to school after you graduated. Forensic science? Crime scene examiner for the NYPD? Investigator wasn't enough?" she teased.

Lucy feigned offense. "What do you expect from me having grown up around a bunch of over achievers? I couldn't just sit back and settle on one thing. Besides, all that other stuff helps with the investigator part of my job."

"Which is why I agree with Cary. I want you to work with us, Lucy." Alicia put up her hand to stop the younger woman's protest. "I do understand your concern and am happy to learn that Cary felt this way before he even met you. If it makes you feel any better, and if my partner is in agreement…" she turns to Cary "…we could try it out for a little while. A trial run. That way, if one of us is uncomfortable or dissatisfied, there is not a binding agreement..yet." She looks to Cary for support.

"Personally, I'd prefer that you just sign on the dotted line, but taking into consideration the circumstances, I agree with Alicia. I think you're a great fit for us and I hope you'll come to think so, too."

Lucy looked from one smiling face to the other and sighed. "Trial run?" They nodded. "No strings attached. No fuss, no muss."

"_I'm not interested in anyone else."_

Alicia shook the memory from her head. "Is that a yes?" When she smiled and nodded yes, she fought the urge to jump up and hug her. "Great! First order of business, you must come over for dinner tonight. I'm sure Zach and Grace will be thrilled to see you."

Lucy wore a genuine smile for the second time since arriving. "I would love that. I can only imagine how much they've grown."

"Zach's graduating from high school."

"Excuse me?" she asked, shocked.

"Yup. Alright…" she stood from her chair and Cary followed. "…my place. 6:30? Is your phone number still the same?" she nodded yes. "Ok, so I'll text you the address."

"In the meantime, I'll familiarize myself a bit more with Chicago and introduce myself to as many members of law enforcement as I can." She shrugged. "Hey..never know when I'll need their help, right?"

"Right. Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Lucy. I look forward to working with you and hope that this is the beginning of a promising future for the firm." Cary shook her hand before Alicia moved in to hug her.

"I'll see you later sweetie."

"See you later. Nice meeting you too, Cary."

As they watched her go, Cary turned an inquisitive look toward Alicia.

"Don't even think about it." She warned him.

"What...what are you talking about?" The realization of what Alicia was implying dawned on him. "Oh come on, you can't be serious."

"Cary..she's like a little sister to me. Besides that, unless things have changed since I last saw her, you don't have a chance. Also, you're now her boss." To which Cary gave her a knowing look. "_Am I? Going too hard?" _She shook the memory off.

"Relax, Alicia. That's not what I meant. But.." he looks in the direction she just walked. "…I don't know about you, but I feel like we just got ourselves our very own Kalinda."

She thought about that for a moment.

"_Lucy, whatever you do, always remember that you don't swing at the first pitch. That's most important."_

"_Really, Will? A baseball metaphor? No, Lucy. The most important thing is to never lose perspective."_

"_Or, as mom used to tell me, always go with your gut feeling. Your first instinct is always right. But, for me? If all else fails, use your assets to your advantage."_

"_Oh dear God." Alicia rolls her eyes at the sight of Tess' slight shimmy of said assets. "Stellar role model, you are."_

She smiled at the memory. "Well, given the influences around her as she grew up? I'd be willing to bet that she just might be better."

"About that…"

"No. Not now, Cary."

* * *

As Alicia is putting dinner in the oven, her doorbell rings.

"Who could that be?" Grace asked from the living room.

Alicia didn't answer as she went to let their guest in.

"First lady of Illinois? Seriously? You didn't think maybe that was something I should know?" Lucy asked as way of a greeting as she walked in. To which Alicia just laughed. "I'm glad you're amused at the fact that I've apparently been residing under a rock."

"No. Just in New York City. Oh, please. It's not a big deal." She replied while taking her coat. Lucy looked back at her with wide eyes. "Not to me. That shouldn't surprise you."

"You're right. You were always -.."

"Aunt Lucy?!"

Lucy spins around to see Grace rushing toward her. "Grace?! Oh my God…look at you!" Alicia smiles as they embrace and walks around them toward the kitchen. "No seriously. Look at you. Last time I saw you, you were what..9?" Grace nods. "Now you're this hot little thing. I think I might cry." Just then she sees Zach rushing out of his bedroom behind Grace, wearing a beaming smile. "Nope. This is not happening. Definitely going to cry now." She says as he wraps her in a tight hug. "Holy crap, Zach. When..? Why..?" He laughs in response as he guides her into the kitchen. "Leesh, this was never supposed to happen. I feel so..ugh..I need a drink."

Laughing, Alicia pours them each a glass of cabernet. _"Leesh, if you don't stop that.. We're never going to make it back to court in time." _She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and a gulp of her wine.

"Mom, why didn't you tell us Aunt Lucy was here?" Zach asked

"And joining us for dinner.." added Grace

"And miss that reaction? No way!" she laughs "I thought it'd be a nice surprise."

"So that's why you gave us the option of staying or going to dads..instead of sticking to the schedule." Zach said, eliciting a look from Alicia. "What? I'm not upset, just thought it was weird."

"Peter doesn't live here?"

"No, he stays in Springfield. It's easier for him." Alicia answers with her generic response.

Lucy glances at her, taking her in completely for the first time today. "So, he won't be joining us for dinner?" Alicia shakes her head. "Oh thank God!" She looks at Zach and Grace apologetically. "I'm sorry, guys. But, I am not a fan of your father."

They both giggle. "We know. We remember." Grace says.

She smiles at them and turns her attention back to Alicia. "How did you end up with him anyway? I mean..you and Will were IT." Alicia stops her glass midway to her mouth and gapes at her in shock. "I was just waiting for the day you both made MY dream come true by telling me you were getting married. And then.." She waves her hands around dramatically.

Alicia looks at the three of them, struggling for words. "Mom. We're not kids anymore." Zach reminds her.

"I know, honey. But, this is a conversation that I think is better had later..when it's just us." She says, looking at Lucy.

"By the way..I saw the way you reacted when I mentioned him earlier and the way Cary looked at you. What was that all about?" Alicia gives her a look. One that makes her think that maybe she should wait until later to bring that up. But she ignored that voice in her head. "Are you guys..like..a thing again?"

"Jesus Christ, Lucy! I swear you are the female version of Owen." Alicia sighs.

"Wait..You met mom's partner?" Grace asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes. Another thing I failed to mention. Lucy is our new investigator."

"Not officially. We're just…testing it out. Seeing if we fit well together."

"Really? That's awesome. How long have you been in Chicago?" Zach asks.

"Just a few days, actually."

"Do you have a cool apartment? I bet you do." Grace inquires.

Alicia gets up to check on dinner and refill their glasses.

"I'm actually still looking. Just can't seem to find anything I like."

Alicia stops mid-pour. "Wait. So where are you staying?"

"At the Marriott on Adams. Pretty nifty place, if I do say so myself."

"What? No. That's crazy. You're checking out of there and coming to stay here until you find your own place." She put up her hand. "No. No. I don't want to hear it. It'll be fun. Like the sleepovers we used to have when you were little."

Lucy smirks. "Oh yeah, those. Only one stands out to me right now."

Alicia turned away, unable to stop the smile forming on her lips. She could feel the color rushing to her cheeks.

"_You can't sit that close to me and expect me not to react."_

"_Well, you don't have a choice. We're babysitting, remember?"_

"_I remember. Do you realize that she's not even here? She's in her room with her friend."_

"_William! She's a teenager, not a toddler. She's not stupid."_

"_I love when you use my whole name." he growls playfully as he kisses her neck._

_She giggles and pulls away. "Would you stop? She could walk in at any moment."_

"_Oh come on, Leesh. She and her friend are probably immersed in boy talk and teenybopper magazines. Besides we'll hear her coming down the stairs." He was practically begging._

_She looks at him. Looks toward the stairs. Then back at him. "Ugh. I swear. You break out those puppy dog eyes because you know I can't resist them." He laughs wickedly as she straddles him. She places a soft kiss on his lips that quickly turns passionate. His lips move to her neck where he softly caresses her with his tongue, eliciting a soft moan from her. Her hand in his hair, she brings his mouth back to hers while his hands roam under her shirt. The friction of her moving while straddled in his lap makes it hard for him to focus. All he wants is to be inside her. He squeezes her breast and moans into their kiss._

"_Oh! Oh my God. Oh..um..I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." _

_Before they've completely emerged from their hormone-fueled haze, Lucy had run back upstairs to her room. _

"_Dammit!" Alicia muttered._

"_How the hell did we not hear her come down?" Will wondered aloud. He looked at Alicia and smirked at her embarrassment. "We might as well finish."_

"_Will! We're supposed to babysit not give her a lesson in sex ed!" she tried to be angry, but one look at his face and they both broke out in a fit of laughter. "You stay there. I'm going to sit all the way over there."_

"_No no no! Wait. Fine. We won't do anything. Just..sit here with me. Let me hold you."_

"Mom? Mom?" Zach tried to get her attention. "Where'd you go?"

She shook her head. "Nowhere, honey. I'm right here." She finished off her glass of wine in one gulp and refilled it. "Lucy, you know Tess would kill me if she knew I let you stay in a hotel. What is wrong with you?"

At the mention of her sister, Lucy stops protesting and looks down. "I don't think she'd give a shit, actually."

Carefully placing the bottle back down and walking back with both glasses, "Hey..what's going on?"

"Nothing. Don't worry about it."

Zach and Grace exchange a glance asking each other if they should leave them alone.

"You can't stay at a hotel though. Mom is right, Aunt Tess would freak." Grace tells her.

Lucy looks at them and smiles. Not a real one, though. Alicia knows the difference. "Does Tess know you're here, Luce?" She shakes her head. "Does she know you left New York?"

She nods and sighs. "Yes. She doesn't know I'm here, because when I left…I didn't know where I was going. She didn't want me to leave, we had a huge fight, blah, blah, blah and here I am."

"Sweetie..she must be worried sick. You have to call her. Just..at least let her know you're ok."

Lucy avoided her gaze, all of their gazes actually and took a gulp of her wine. Before she could respond, the doorbell rang. Alicia looked at her children, questioningly and they looked back at her and shrugged. She sighs. "Ugh. Who the hell?" Placing her glass on the table she looks at Lucy, who still won't make eye contact. "This conversation isn't over." She says as she walks to answer her door. When she opens it, she's filled with dread when she sees who it is. "Owen! What are you doing here?"

"What? I need a reason to come visit my big sis?" He asks, appalled.

She tilts her head to the side, smirking. "We both know that the only time you come here unannounced is when you have a problem."

"Ugh. I can't get anything past you. I screwed up." He whines.

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "One problem at a time."

"What?"

She shakes her head and pushes him toward the dining room. "Some things never change." With Lucy and Owen together, her night was sure to get a lot more interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: You guys! I was not expecting any sort of response to this. I thank you all very very much! I now understand how much of an impact reviews have. I hope you all stick around! This chapter is shorter, but gives a little background to Lucy, with some humor. **

**As I continue to write this (I'm currently nearing the end of chapter 4), I'm constantly hit with random memory pops. So, I will have those throughout the story. That being said..I should warn that parts of this chapter are M-ish. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

She tilts her head to the side, smirking. "We both know that the only time you come here unannounced is when you have a problem."

"Ugh. I can't get anything past you. I screwed up." He whines.

She closes her eyes and shakes her head. "One problem at a time."

"What?"

She shakes her head and pushes him toward the dining room. "Some things never change." With Lucy and Owen together, her night was sure to get a lot more interesting.

"What are you blabbing about?" he asked.

Upon hearing his voice, Lucy stiffened up. _This is not happening right now. _Slowly, she turned in their direction.

Owen abruptly stopped, causing Alicia to walk into him. "Ow! What's wrong with you?"

"Well, well, well..look who's sober." Owen smirked at Lucy.

"And look who's fully clothed." She shot back.

Zach and Grace looked at each other confused.

Alicia looked from Owen to Lucy. "Uhhh.."

"I found her drunk at The Closet the other night." Owen told Alicia.

She wore a look of confusion when she looked back at him, shaking her head slightly. "Wh..Where?"

Owen glanced over at Zach and Grace. Scratching his head, he answered. "It's a..a..gay bar over on Broadway."

Alicia gaped at Lucy who avoided eye contact.

"Oh..Okaayyy. I think it's time for dinner and we three will continue this later." Alicia replied, eyeing them both before going into the kitchen.

Owen sat down next to Lucy. "Ooohhh..you got the Alicia stare." he whispered.

"Shut up. So did you."

Once dinner was over and they'd finished off their second bottle of wine, Zach and Grace retreated to their bedrooms to finish their homework after promises from Lucy to return the following day to stay. When Alicia excuses herself to change out of her suit before she's too drunk to later, Owen and Lucy take advantage of the moment alone.

Checking to make sure Alicia was in her bedroom, Owen turns back to Lucy. "You didn't tell her, did you?" he whispered.

"No! Why didn't you tell me she was the First Lady? Or that she had her own firm? I felt so stupid showing up for an interview that I didn't even realize was with her." She hissed at him. "Of course I didn't remember that she changed her last name." she answered his unasked question.

"I did! Didn't I? I think I did. I don't remember. Why don't I remember? How much did we -"

He stops when he hears his sister's bedroom door open.

Lucy looks up as Alicia walks back into the room wearing dark blue skinny jeans and a red V-neck sweater. "Hey..there's the Leesh I remember." She smiled up at her as she passed on her way to grab another bottle of wine. "You always did look good in red."

Her last words reach Alicia as she's closing the door to the wine fridge.

"_I'm afraid even if we say we will, we won't." she smiles slyly before looking down._

_He clears his throat and she picks her head up to meet his gaze. He has _that look_in his eyes. One she knows too well. The look that sends chills down her spine and butterflies fluttering deep inside of her causing her to cross her legs tighter. _

_He glances behind her. "No one is looking. Meet you in my bathroom in a minute."_

_Without hesitation, she rises and after throwing a seductive smile his way, walks to his bathroom. Before she has a chance to close the door behind her, he's there._

_His hands circle her waist and turn her to face him. "Jesus, Leesh.." he says before placing hungry kisses on her neck._

"_What..I didn't even do any-" His mouth on hers stops her talking. She opens her mouth slightly, caressing his tongue with hers. Feeling his erection through his pants, she can tell this will be quick. As she unbuckles his belt and starts to undo his pants, he quickly lifts her skirt and then her onto the counter next to the sink. She gasps at the contact of the cold marble against the heat of the back of her thighs. She finishes unbuttoning his pants and they fall around his ankles. She looks up into his eyes, smiling._

"_You can't do this." He says to her._

_Her smile fades. "Do what? What do you mean?"she asks, searching his eyes._

_He breaks eye contact, looks her up and down, caressing her with his eyes. Once he meets hers again, he smiles. "You know I've always loved you in red." He whispers into her ear as he thrusts into her eliciting a moan he muffles with a kiss. _

"Hey sis! You need any help in there?" Owen yells from the living room.

She realizes that she's no longer holding the wine bottle and instead is gripping the counter for support. "Nope. Be right there." She stands up straight and shakes her head. Mumbles to herself as she opens the bottle of wine. "Get a grip, Alicia."

"Alright, who wants to go first?" she asks as she reenters the living room and starts to refill their glasses. She looked from one to the other. Neither one offered any information. "Oh, come on." Nothing. "Fine. Lucy.." she winced. "..what happened between you and Tess?"

Before answering, Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, Alicia wore a look of concern and Owen one of confusion. She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips, to which Alicia tilted her head to the right and smiled. She returned the smile, albeit sympathetically. "The problem isn't with my sister. It's with my girlfriend. Well, ex-girlfriend, now." She looked away before continuing. She hated that she felt uncomfortable sharing this with Alicia. The last thing she wanted was to dredge up any bad memories for her. "She cheated on me."

"That bitch." Owen immediately reacted, bringing a faint smile to her face.

"Oh honey. I'm so sorry. Is this the one I met at your graduation?"

"Yup. That's the one. My longtime, live-in girlfriend cheated on me. And you know what the best part is?" she looked at them and Alicia arched an eyebrow waiting for her to continue.

"The best..? Wha..are you drunk already?" Alicia slapped Owen on his shoulder and hushed him.

"She cheated on me with my best friend."

Owen felt Alicia stiffen next to him and looked over at her, questioningly.

_It's in the past, Alicia. This is not about you right now. _She mentally chastised herself.

Lucy continued. "When I found out, I just..I didn't even try to talk to her. I mean..why? You know? So, I just decided to leave. Just..leave New York. Tess flipped out. Begged me to come stay with her. Said I was being irrational and reacting from pure emotion." She paused and sipped her wine. "In hindsight, I do realize that she did have a point. I was reacting from emotion. But, how was I supposed to react? We were going to get married. We wanted to have a baby. I was going to carry it. I went from one day being happy..and stupid..and blind.." Alicia listened intently as she lifted her wine glass to her mouth and drank. "..to a newly turned 30 year old cliché in Chicago having sex with a gay man." She gasped, her hand flying to her mouth as if attempting to take back what just flew out of it.

At that same moment, Owen shot straight up gaping at her in shock and Alicia choked on the wine that was making its way down her throat. "Wait.." she coughed. "You..what?"

"We didn't mean for it to happen. She was drunk. I was drunk. There may have been some pot involved." Alicia's eyes widen. "Okay..a lot..of..pot." he backed away. "And maybe some other stuff?" he looks to Lucy for help when Alicia failed to respond. She shrugged. "Look..we were both upset and just wanted to stop feeling and -.." he stops when Alicia raises her hand signaling for him to do so.

"You're the gay man she had sex with?!" she looks to Lucy. "Owen? Really? How the..no. No no no. I don't..oh God..I do not want to know." She stands up and starts to pace. When she looks back in their direction, she suppresses the urge to chuckle at the sight of them. They look like someone killed their dog. When she stops in front of them, they look at her like deer caught in headlights. She is unable to hold it in anymore and starts laughing, causing them to look at each other confused. "You guys are a mess. What happened to Mike?" she asked Owen. "And you? I thought..I thought you liked women.."

"I do."

"So…"

"Well..I'm.." Lucy searched for the right word.

"I swear..if you say you're flexible.."

She looked at Alicia and smirked. "Unlabeled." Alicia looked at her, clearly confused. "Meaning, I like to keep my options open."

Owen took this time to jump in while Alicia tried to digest everything. "Mike and I had a fight that night and when I told him what happened.." he shrugged and looked over to Lucy. "Are you sure we had sex? I don't remember anything.."

Lucy simply rolled her eyes. "I think I would know how my body feels after intercourse. Especially.."

"Stop. Nope. I..no.." Alicia warned them before grabbing her glass and finishing her wine in one gulp. "I.." she thinks and nods her head as if making a decision. "Yes. I have had enough for tonight." She takes a deep breath and points at them. "You two...I swear." She shakes her head and stands. "I need to go to bed. I have to battle it out with Will in court tomorrow. I need all the sleep I can get."

Jumping at the chance to change the subject, Lucy asks "Wait. Why are you fighting with Will?"

Owen snaps his head in her direction. "You don't know?" he gasps. "You don't know about their whole little love affair while she was working at his firm?" Lucy starts and glances at Alicia who seems to be frozen in place struggling with whether to leave the room or stop her brother. She looks back at Owen, urging him to continue with her eyes. "Her love for him got to be too much for her to handle so she left and they had this big knockdown, drag out fight and they're now like mortal enemies that I swear will one day soon end up having hot, steamy, angry, makeup sex on a desk somewhere."

"Owen!" Alicia hissed at him as Lucy stifled a giggle.

"Is that true?"

"I'm going to bed. I am through dealing with the two of you tonight." She moved toward Owen and kissed his head and did the same to Lucy. "Work on Monday. Here tomorrow with your stuff. Call me if you need anything."

Lucy smiled at her as she walked towards her bedroom. "Thank you!" she called after her.

"Love ya, sis!" Alicia waved her hand in their direction.

"Well..that's one thing that hasn't changed about her. She still won't talk about things."

"Come on. I'll drop you off at your hotel on my way home."

Alicia closed her bedroom door behind her and leaned against it, lost in thought.

"_You got a problem, you bring it to me. You don't take it to court." He startles me as he barges into my office closing the door behind him._

_But I hide it. "What? I'm a lawyer. You asked us."_

"_We asked you to take this seriously."_

"_I am taking this seriously."_

"_You're losing us a client." His voice is rising._

"_That's not my fault!" I yell._

"_It damn well is your fault!"_

"_Well then take us off of it! Fire us! Get rid of us!"_

"_Oh that's what you want huh? That's what these meetings with clients..that's what this is about?"_

"_Oh my God, listen to yourself Will. You are not the injured party here."_

"_Oh what and you are?"_

"_I AM. YES!"_

_Our faces are now inches from each other. _

_Five seconds. _

_One look. _

_That's all it took._

_He grips the back of my neck pulling me to him as his lips crash into mine and I instantly grab the back of his neck, moaning into the kiss. He slips his free arm around my waist pulling me closer to him and I can feel the heat from his body. He tries to pull away, but I don't let him. Instead I deepen the kiss, slipping my tongue into his mouth and he immediately responds as his tongue meets mine. I slip his jacket off of his shoulders and he shrugs it off, letting it fall to the floor as I undo his tie. As he moves me backward toward my desk, I start to undo his pants. He lifts me on to my desk, knocking my phone and some files out of his way and onto the floor in the process. He caresses my neck with his tongue and unzips my dress. I reach into his boxers and stroke his erection, making him moan and I take pleasure in knowing that I still have this effect on him as I pull his boxers down. In one swift move, he's rid me of my panties and is entering me, slowly so that I feel myself taking him in, inch by inch. All the while, not breaking eye contact, heightening my arousal. _

_I wrap my legs around him tightly and I see him wince as my heels dig into his skin. He's not moving. He's just there. Inside of me. Looking down at me. My hands are on his chest. I can feel his muscles through the fabric of his shirt. Slowly, my hands move up to his neck and pull him into a kiss. A kiss fueled by the passion I've kept bottled up inside for the past year. He starts to move. Slowly at first. I lean back, taking him with me. Taking him in deeper, pulling moans from deep within the both of us. He starts to move faster. His lips..his tongue..are on my neck..the top of my breasts..sucking. I know he's leaving marks, but it feels so good. I can't bring myself to stop him. He's thrusting into me harder now. My desk is shaking. My lamp falls to the ground, breaking. We're now engulfed in darkness and our passion. The only sounds are our moans echoing throughout my office. Just when I think I can't take anymore, I go over the edge taking him with me. _

Alicia jumps..hard. She shakes her head. Once. Twice. Trying to shake the image that is so vividly playing in her mind right now.

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit." She repeats to herself as she walks into her bathroom and turns on the cold water in her shower.

* * *

**A/N: My apologies that this last memory pop came from Alicia's POV. But, that's how it came out when I typed it. I went back and forth with myself about changing it, but in the end I decided it fit.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thank you again for your kind reviews! I cannot express how much they help. I am glad you are all enjoying this! And finally…present day Will.**

* * *

She entered the building and walked up to the directory. After locating what she was searching for she headed in the direction of the elevators. Rushing on to the one that was just about to close its doors, she nearly knocked over the petite brunette standing just inside.

"Oh! I'm so sorry." She said to her, smiling.

The woman nodded. "What floor?" she asked, gesturing toward the panel of buttons.

Glancing over, she replies. "Looks like it's been selected already. Thank you." She smiles again. As the elevator makes its ascent, she eyes the woman beside her. _Nice boots. Badass purple leather jacket._ She nods to herself in approval. She looks up and meets the woman's eyes. _Busted._ She turns away, slightly embarrassed.

The elevator stops and people push past them to get off causing the woman to lean into her. "I guess I should be the one who is sorry now."

They lock eyes briefly until the _ding_ of the elevator causes her to look away. _28._ "Ah. This is me. Excuse me." She says as she walks off of the elevator and heads for the receptionist.

The woman behind the desk looks up and smiles as she approaches. "May I help you?"

"Hi, I'm looking for Will Gardner."

"Mr. Gardner? He's actually in a meeting at the moment. Was he expecting you?"

* * *

"I just do not see why it's necessary to…"

Will stopped listening to David Lee drone on about his latest annoyance. He could care less about what bothered him. He mentally checked out of the meeting and started to pay attention to what was going on outside of the conference room. _Look at them. They're all gossiping and trying to figure out what's going on. Creating their theories without an inkling of information. _He did a double take when he glanced toward reception. _No way._ He rose from his seat and buttoned his suit jacket. Avoiding Diane's gaze, he excused himself from the meeting and left the conference room headed toward reception.

"No, he's not expecting me. Do you know how much longer he will be? I don't mind waiting."

"I'm sorry ma'am. Without an appointment-.."

"Lucy?"

She turned to look in his direction and her smile grew brighter. "There you are!" she said as she rushed towards him, jumping up to wrap her arms around him. He returned the hug, lifting her from the ground.

"Jeez, Luce. It's been ages since I've seen you." He says as he places her back on the ground.

"Oh come on. It hasn't been THAT long. Oh wait...no...that's right...you were NOT at my graduation." She glared at him, playfully.

"Oh yeah...that." he smiles. "I'm sorry."

"I know." She says, returning the smile.

He nods in the direction behind him. "Come on. Let's go to my office." He says putting an arm around her shoulders and steering her in that direction. "How long are you here for?" he asks as he gestures toward the sofa when they walk into his office.

She looks around, whistling. "Look at you mister name partner with a corner office." She walks to the window instead of sitting down. "Killer view."

He chuckles. "It's alright." He says as he moves to stand next to her. He looks down at her. "You never answered me." She looked up at him, confused. "How long are you here for?"

"Oh. Well...I don't know, actually. Maybe for good?" she turns back to look out of his window. "You really do have a kick ass view."

"Excuse me, Will?" Diane was at his door. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to interrupt." She says as she eyes Lucy.

"No problem. Diane Lockhart," he turns to Lucy. "..Lucy Wilde. Lucy, this is my partner, Diane."

"Oh, hi." Lucy states as she moves forward her hand outstretched. "Such a pleasure to meet you."

"And you as well." She smiles as she shakes her hand. When Lucy turns away and moves to finally sit on the sofa, she eyes Will with a look.

Realizing that his partner has the wrong idea, he starts to explain. "I went to law school with Lucy's sister. This one here is like the kid sister I never wanted. Total pain in my ass."

"Hey! I'm right here, you know."

Diane can't help but smile as she sees her partner genuinely smiling for the first time in weeks. "I see. And you're here for..?"

"To annoy him, apparently." Diane laughs. "I just arrived in town a few days ago so I decided it was time I gave Will here a hard time about not attending my graduation all those years ago." She teased. "He doesn't write, doesn't call."

Will looks at Diane. "See? Pain."

Diane looks behind him toward the door. "Ah, there she is. Kalinda!" she calls out and waves the investigator into Will's office.

"So, I looked back through all of the files for the Ashbaugh cases..." Kalinda started as she walked in. "...to see if there was anything that would implicate Alicia or-"

"Oh no! No no no no! Wait!" Lucy exclaimed as she sat up straight, waving her hands. "Please don't continue."

They all gaped at her, confused by her outburst.

Kalinda was the first to speak. "Uhhh…"

"I think I know what this is about." Will started. "Kalinda Sharma, meet Lucy Wilde. Dear friend of mine. Went to law school with her sister." He explains again to avoid any misunderstanding. He looks at Lucy. "And she obviously is also friends with Alicia."

A faint smile forms on Kalinda's lips. "Hi." She says.

Lucy nods. "Nice to formally meet you. Love your boots." She looks at Will. "Of course I don't want to hear anyone speak ill of Alicia. Especially not you." He turns away from her gaze and she rises from her seat. "But, I also can't sit here and listen to this because I kind of work for her."

His head snaps back in her direction. "You what?" he asks as she starts to gather her coat and bag. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry. I should have called. You're obviously very busy. Call me later. Maybe we can do drinks." She tells him as she hugs him.

"No, don't apologize." He sighs. "Look...I have to head to court right now. Why don't you meet me there in 2 hours and we can have lunch. If you don't already have plans."

She smiles. "Sounds like a plan. I'll see you there." She turns to leave. "It was a pleasure meeting you ladies. Hope to see you again soon."

"That was interesting." Diane commented as she watched her go.

Kalinda eyed him. "Should we be concerned?"

He shakes his head. "No. Lucy is incredibly loyal, but not at all conniving. She's not wired that way, it isn't in her DNA. That's why we pushed her away from law." He smiles, wistfully. _"Why are you getting upset? I don't think she should get into law. She's too kindhearted for it. I thought you of all people would agree."_

"_I do agree and I'm not getting upset. I just think that we should leave her to make those kinds of decisions on her own without any influence from any of us."_

"_But we're not, Leesh. We're just making her think. Getting her to keep herself open to anything."_

"_Anything? Does 'anything' include sports? Because you seem to spend a hell of a lot of time teaching her sports crap."_

"_And you spend all your free time with her talking about dance and music and books and watching old movies. THAT'S not influencing her in any way?"_

"_That's giving her a taste of culture, you ass!"_

"_Oh my God, you two. Do you even hear yourselves?" They both turn to look at Tess who is staring at them wearing a look of amusement. "You've already mastered the whole married couple thing. Sorry to say...I kind of feel sorry for your children. They're going to need Aunt Tess around to keep them sane." She giggled and threw a highlighter at Alicia, bringing them back to the task at hand._

"Hey. Where'd you go just now?" Diane asks, softly.

He shakes his head, still smiling. "Nowhere. But we do need to get to court. Come on."

* * *

Lucy arrived at the courthouse early and quietly stepped into the courtroom. She remained standing in the back so as not to interrupt and to have a better view of the scene as a whole, which is why she witnessed the longing glances that occurred between them when the other wasn't looking.

She started to listen when Will rose from his seat. "But, there is the matter of undue influence."

"Undue influence on the deceased?" the judge asked.

"Yes. We contend that he was encouraged to draw up a new will by his lawyer, Alicia Florrick." He says, pointing at Alicia. _What the hell is going on? _She saw Cary jump up to defend Alicia and Diane do the same, reactively. However, all she could focus on was the look exchanged between Alicia and Will as he lowered himself back into his seat. A look filled with so much hurt and pain and anger from both that she couldn't bear to witness anymore and decided to wait outside for Will.

"Lucy? Hey, what are you doing here?" she turns at the sound of Alicia's voice and smiles.

"Hey." She nods at Cary next to her. "Hello again, Mr. Agos."

"Cary." He smiles. "Getting to know the courthouse personnel?"

"Oh, Lucy. Meet Clarke Hayden, one of our associates." Alicia interrupts, motioning to the man on her other side. "Clarke, Lucy here is the investigator you were inquiring after this morning."

"Ah, hello dear." He smiles, shaking her hand. "Such a pleasure to put a face to your extensive resume."

"Thank you, Mr. Hayden. I look forward to attempting to live up to your praise."

"So, I thought I wouldn't see you until later, at my apartment."

"Oh, you will." She spots Will exiting the courtroom behind her. "I'm actually here to meet Will for lunch." She replies as she meets Alicia's gaze and smiles. "I hope that's ok..." she adds softly.

"Mr. Agos, could I talk to you over here about...this...case?" Clarke immediately moves to give the two women some privacy and Cary follows without hesitation.

"Honey, of course that's ok. You don't need my permission. And I certainly don't want you to feel that you can't because of the way things are between us right now." She smiles, reassuringly. "Enjoy catching up over lunch, please. I'll see you in a few hours?"

Lucy nods slowly. "You could always join us. Like old times." She suggests.

Alicia laughs. A little too loudly seeing as it grabs the attention of those standing nearest to them, resulting in looks of suspicion from some. "That's not going to happen. But, you have fun. We'll talk later." She starts to walk away.

"For what it's worth…" she stops and turns when she hears Lucy. "…I see what Owen was talking about. Whether or not the two of you do, I see it."

She cocks her head to the side, smiling faintly and turns, saying over her shoulder as she walks away. "I'll see you later, Lucy."

* * *

When he exits the courtroom, he sees Lucy talking to Alicia. He feels a small pang of guilt and a larger pang of nostalgia. In another world, they'd be headed to lunch together, all three of them, set to reminisce about old times and have more than their fair share of laughs. That's when he hears it. Her laugh. That sound, as much as he hates it and will never admit to, is still the most beautiful, timeless piece of music to his ears. He soaks it up and watches (a little too long) as she walks away, leaving the building.

"Hey Luce." He calls out as he walks toward her.

She turns to greet him. "Ready for lunch? Can we go somewhere that serves ice cold beer? I could really use one."

He chuckles at her. "Come on. I know just the place."

After they've settled into their booth and ordered, Will starts to ask questions.

"So what brought you to Chicago?"

She shrugged. "Needed a change." She replied, vaguely.

"Is Tess here, too?" he looks up and thanks the waitress when she places their beers in front of them.

"No." she sighed. "She's still in New York."

He raised his eyebrows. "She let you move away? To Chicago? Without her?"

She stared at him, not wanting to get into the details of why she found herself here and changed the subject. "So. You and Alicia. What the hell is going on between you two?"

He took a deep breath and then drank from his beer. "You never were one for subtlety."

"Subtlety is for losers. Are you calling me a loser after years of brainwashing me to never allow that line of thinking into my head?" She paused, looking away while he chuckled to himself. "Been kind of hard to do that lately, but I try." She smiles, faintly. "Now, are you going to answer my question?"

He looks at her, furrowing his brows, but decides not to ask her to explain herself further. "How about you tell me how...and why...you've ended up working at Florrick/Agos?"

"Seriously?" she giggles.

He sits up straight, putting his arms out. "What? It's a perfectly good question."

"And a perfectly typical way to avoid mine." He fakes innocence. "Ok, Gardner. I'll play. I went in for an interview, not realizing it was with Alicia since I forgot she changed her last name. I tried to convince her not to even consider me, but she and Cary teamed up against me and persuaded me to agree to a trial situation. To test each other out. No strings attached." He nodded. "Your turn."

He sighs deeply. "Maybe you should talk to Alicia about that."

"Oh come on. You know how she is. Why won't you just talk to me?" he shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "I was in the courtroom."

He looked at her finally, confused. "What?"

"Today. I got to the courthouse early and wanted to watch you two in action. Except, what I saw was not what I was expecting."

He drinks from his beer again. "What you saw, were lawyers being lawyers. Fighting for their clients. Nothing else."

"No. What I saw, was two of my favorite people in the entire universe, whom I've witnessed madly in love with each other, acting as if they loathe one another." She pauses when their food arrives. "What hurts me most..." he looked up at her. "...yes...it hurts. To see the two of you look at each other with so much anger...and pain. That hurt to witness. I don't know those people."

He chews slowly as he takes in what she's just said. "That's all in the past, Luce. Things change. People change. You really should talk to Alicia about this."

She sighs, defeated. "Fine. Tell me about life. Your firm. Things I should do while I'm here."

An hour later, they exit the restaurant, laughing. "God, I remember how much Tess and Alicia hated going to my baseball games. You did a good job convincing them, though."

"Oh please. Alicia put on a good act, she loved watching you play."

They fell silent. "This was fun, Lucy. I hope you decide to stay in Chicago."

"We'll see how things go." She hugs him and starts to walk in the opposite direction of his car.

"Where are you going?"

She turns back. "My hotel is a few blocks that way." She stopped him when he tried to offer a ride. "I need to walk off the beer and carbs."

"Alright. Hey...how about we catch a basketball game next weekend?" he suggests.

"Count me in. Call me with the details." She waves before turning around and rushing off.

Will rushes to get into his car and immediately turns the heat on full blast. _"She loved watching you play." _Lucy's words entered his mind.

"_Good game." She said as she wrapped her arms around him and reached up to kiss him._

"_Mmmm...thank you." He replied into the kiss as he pulled her closer to him. "You do know we lost, right?"He teases, as she playfully hit him in his chest. "Just checking. Are you sure you don't mind my going out with the guys tonight?" he asked as he ran his hands along her back._

"_Of course I don't. Tess and I are taking Lucy to a movie. Have fun." She kisses him quickly. "Don't drink too much." She kisses him again before turning to go._

"_Will I see you later?" he calls after her. She turns back, smiling and shrugs. "Hey...I thought you weren't upset." She doesn't turn back, leaving him confused._

_After a few hours of attempting to have a good time, he finally gave up and tried calling her. No answer. He leaves his friends at the bar and heads to her apartment. After knocking for 10 minutes, he decides she's either asleep or mad at him and heads home. _

_He lets himself into his apartment and grabs a beer from his fridge before heading to his bedroom. He picked up his phone and tried calling her again. Nothing. Giving up, he walks into his bedroom, places his beer on his desk and starts to undress without turning his light on. And that's when he sees her. Curled up in his bed, wearing his jersey, sleeping peacefully with her raven curls spread out over his pillow. The moonlight peaking in from his window added an angelic glow to her porcelain skin. _

_He quickly finished undressing and slowly crawled into bed next to her. She stirred as he covered them with his blanket and wrapped his arm around her. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead, trying not to wake her. Her eyes fluttered open and met his, a smile forming on her lips as she snuggled closer to him. _

"_Hey. You're home." She whispered before placing a soft kiss on his bare chest. "Did you have a good time?"_

"_Not really. The idea of you being mad at me kind of kept me from getting into it." He admitted._

_She pulled back and looked up at him. "Mad? Why would you think I was mad?"_

_He smirks. "You're cute when you try to lie." He says before placing a quick peck on the tip of her nose._

"_I am not lying!" she said, playfully pushing him lightly. "I may have been a little disappointed." She admitted. "I mean, I know how you are when you lose a game and I just wanted to try to make you feel better." She says as she softly caresses his shoulder with her finger. "But, I guess the guys know how to do a better job..."_

"_Never." He growls and playfully bites her neck. "How about we not put THAT image out into the universe, ok?" He says as she bursts into laughter. "Mmmm..." he groans. "Have I ever told you that your laugh turns me on?" he said as he caresses her thigh. _

"_Is that so?" she teases as she wraps her leg around him, pulling him in for a kiss._

_He deepens the kiss, gently running his hand along the leg she's wrapped around him. He abruptly stops when his hand reaches her lower back and pulls away. "Leesh..." he says breathlessly. "Are you wearing my jersey with..." He swallows. "..nothing on underneath?" She smiles and nods, biting her lower lip. "You never cease to amaze me, you know that?" He quickly removes his jersey from her body and leans in to kiss her again, both of them pouring more passion into it than before. He moves on top of her and she wraps her legs around him tighter. She gently runs her fingernails along his upper arms as he places soft kisses on her stomach, her breasts and then her neck. He grabs her hands, intertwining them with his, placing them above her head as he enters her causing her to moan loudly into the darkness of his bedroom. _

The loud knock on his car window rips him out of his reverie. "You gonna move man? I need this spot."

He glares at the man outside of his window and puts up his hand as a form of apology. Putting his car in drive, he pulls out of the spot and away from his memory.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Full disclosure..save a few parts of this..not a big fan of this chapter. (I am my **_**worst**_** critic!) Hopefully, you'll all enjoy at least some of this. As always, thank you so much for the reviews!**

* * *

Lucy emerged from Zach's bedroom after he helped her program her new phone to find Alicia sitting at her dining room table in semi-darkness. She took in the thoughtful look on her face as she sat there twirling a pen in her hands with a legal notepad sitting on the table in front of her. She spotted the open bottle of wine on the kitchen island and stopped to grab it as she made her way over to where she sat.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked quietly, trying not to startle her.

The pen stops twirling and Alicia watches as Lucy refills her wine glass. "Thank you." She smiles as Lucy sits next to her.

"What's this about?" she asked pointing to the empty notepad.

She sighs heavily. "My attempt at getting my thoughts together so that I can plan out how I will survive Will's cross-examination tomorrow." She takes a sip from her wine. "I just..." she shrugs. "...I don't know. Everything is a jumbled mess in my head and I can't seem to navigate my way through it all."

Taking a moment to choose the right words, Lucy responds. "Look, I want to know what's going on with you guys...at least...what you're willing to tell me. But, more than anything, I want you to get through this. So," she plucks the pen from her hand and grabs the legal pad. "Lucky for you, Tess made me practice with her whenever she had a difficult case." She started writing on the pad. "In extremely difficult or sensitive cases..." she looks up at her. "I think we both can agree this one falls in that category." Alicia smiles faintly, in agreement as Lucy continued to write. "She utilized a decision tree. I'm sure you know what that is, so I don't have to explain it. Let's get started."

"Lucy..." she turns her attention to Alicia. "...it's...complicated."

Knowing she was not referring to the task at hand, Lucy nods. "You two were always complicated. That's what made me fall in love with you." She smiled and started firing questions at her.

An hour later, Lucy places the notepad on the table in front of her and looks at Alicia. "Why is he doing this?" she asks, quietly. Alicia sighs and looks away. "He's accusing you of influencing...seducing...this dead guy to get him to change his will to include you. I know that's not something you would do. So does he."

"He's angry."

"No shit." Lucy replied. "But, why?" She looks down at all she has written. "Better yet, what gives him that idea?"

Another sigh. This one heavier. "Things I've said to him. In confidence. Jokingly." She looks at her. "During..."

Lucy nods, understanding. "I see. So, you guys..." she pauses to look at her notes again. "September 23, 2011? That was during..?" She nods in response and looks towards Grace and Zach's bedrooms. Lucy follows her gaze and then looks back at her. "Ok, then. I think you're good." She stands from her seat. "Maybe you should try to sleep. Don't think about it anymore. You'll do fine. I'm sure of it." She reaches down to hug her. "Good night."

"Thank you." She says as she walks away. "Oh Lucy?" she stops and turns to face her. "We have a holiday party on Friday night."

Lucy scrunches up her nose. "Who has a what?"

"I know. I know. I'm not happy about it, either. But, if I have to go...and I assure you I do...so do you."

"Ugh. Why?" she whines.

"It's my firm throwing the party. You're now part of my firm."

"Not until Monday."

Alicia gave her a look. "Zach and Grace have to go, too. Besides, it'll be good for you to meet some clients and the people you'll be working with."

"Damn, you're torturing everybody."

"Oh hey! My mom will be there! She'll love to see you." She smiled.

Lucy groans. "Fine. But I'm not dressing up." She states as she walks away.

"As long as you look presentable!" she called after her.

Alicia shook her head and chuckled to herself. She took a sip from her wine glass and picked up the notepad, glancing at Lucy's notes. She couldn't help but smile when she saw that she had drawn hearts and scribbled the words _love_ and _soulmates _and_ happy. _Happy.

_Wine glass in hand, she leaned on the railing looking out at the New York City skyline. She sipped her wine and glanced around her at all of the buildings, mentally counting the windows where lights were on and trying to figure out if they were offices or apartments._

"_There you are." came a sleepy voice behind her. _

_She turned in her spot and smiled at the sight of Will, wrapped in a comforter, making his way toward her. "Hey, sleepyhead." She took in his hair; how messy it looked and shivered from the chills that radiated down her spine at the memory of her hands running through his hair as he pleasured her just a few hours ago. _

"_What are you doing out here?" he squinted at her through half-closed eyes. "And in a sheet." His eyes popped open. "Are you really out here in just a sheet?!"_

_She laughed at his reaction. She WAS wrapped in a sheet with her shoulders and arms left bare. "Yes. Is there something wrong with that?"_

"_Leesh, it's cold out here." He said stepping closer. _

_She shrugged. "It's not that cold." She smirked as an idea entered her mind and placed her wine glass on the railing. Leaning back onto the railing, she started to unwrap the sheet from her body, slowly._

_Noticing what she was doing, Will quickly glanced around. "What are you doing? Somebody can see you!"_

"_Umm...that's the point." She teased. As the sheet fell, revealing her breasts, Will rushed forward to wrap the comforter around her. In doing so, he knocked her wine glass over. They both gasped and watched it fall. Laughing, Will pulled her back from the railing. "Oh my God, Will!" she exclaimed, unable to contain her own laughter. "Do you think it fell on someone?"_

"_I don't have a clue. I just hope they don't figure out where it came from." He pulled her closer to him, wrapping the blanket around them more. "You're freezing, you crazy woman."_

_She almost denied that she was and then thought better of it. "You're right. I am. What was I thinking? How ever will I warm up?" she teased, biting her lower lip. _

_He groaned. "You know I love when you do that." She eyed the chair behind him and started to push him backward to it. He sat when he felt it hit the back of his knees and she immediately straddled him. He looked up at her, shocked. "Really? Out here?"_

"_Why not?" she leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his lips that quickly took a passionate turn. He placed his hand on the back of her neck, deepening the kiss. _

_When she pulled away to catch her breath, he glanced around them. "This is crazy romantic."_

"_And apparently more appealing than me." She giggled. _

_He looked up at her, his hand still grasping her neck and gently caressed her cheek as he continued to stare into her eyes. "You are...truly...the most beautiful thing in my life."_

_She smiled and felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she looked back into his eyes. The pure, raw emotion pouring out of them directed at her. She slowly leaned down and gently kissed his lips, tracing his jawline with delicate kisses. "This is the happiest I've ever been." She whispered into his ear._

She sighed, blinking back the tears in her eyes.

* * *

"Are you sure your mom lets you drive?"

"It's my car."

"She lets him drive."

Lucy stood by Zach's car. "Well, I refuse to believe you're old enough to, so, hand them over." She put out her hand, gesturing for the keys.

Zach laughed, shaking his head. "I'm not even going to argue with you."

"Good. Because if we're any later, Mom is going to kill us." Grace informed them, as she climbed into the back seat.

After following initial directions to the firm from Zach, they were on their way.

"So, Aunt Lucy, Grace and I..." Zach looked back at his sister. "..we were talking. And...well...you know how I'm leaving for college soon?"

"Nope. Not happening. You're not even in high school yet." Lucy smirked as she glanced sideways at him. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"Well...I'm leaving..."

"..and I will be soon after." Grace chimed in.

"And...well...we're worried. Especially me."

"Worried? About what, guys?"

They look at each other before Zach responds. "About Mom. You know...she's going to be alone."

"Aww, you guys." She quickly looked over at Zach and then made eye contact with Grace in the rearview mirror. "She'll be fine. Besides, she won't be alone. Your dad will be with her." She noticed that they both remained silent. "Hey. So. How is your parents' marriage these days, anyway?"

"Perfect." Grace said.

Lucy nodded, thoughtfully.

"To the public." Zach added.

"I see." She looked over at Zach again and then back to the road. "So you're concerned she'll get lonely when you leave?"

"She already is." Grace said quietly.

"Not that you'd ever know. She's gotten really good at faking it and putting all of our needs and our happiness before hers."

Lucy sighed. "You mom has always been that way Zach. Always."

"I just want to see her happy. I hate seeing her cry."

"Jesus Christ, you are adorable."

"Ugh... You sound like Mom!" he groans, causing them all to burst into laughter.

"We're just hoping you decide to stay in Chicago." Grace said when the laughter finally died down.

"I know I'd feel a lot better if I knew you were around. You, Uncle Owen, Grandma...you guys will keep her busy."

"Hey!" she tossed a sideways glance his way. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh hey, look we're here. Park there." He smirked as Grace stifled her giggles in the backseat.

* * *

"Anything else?" Alicia says into the phone.

"No."

"Well, thanks for...calling."

"You're welcome." He pauses and she wonders if he's hung up. "Happy Holidays." He says softly and the line goes dead.

She places the receiver back in its cradle.

_He sneaks up behind her, startling her. _

"_Will!" she hissed, slapping his arm. "You scared me half to death!"_

_He couldn't help his laughter. "You were in your own world. I couldn't help it." She glared at him. "Here, drink this. Be merry." He handed her a glass of egg nog._

_She took it from his hand and turned her attention back to the room. "Your family is nice. Very sweet."_

_He looks at her. "I know this isn't your thing. But, thank you for enduring this with me." His smile was contagious as she found herself smiling as well._

"_Hey!" Aubrey yelled out and everyone looked in the direction she pointed; at them. "You guys are under the mistletoe! You have to kiss! You have to kiss!" She jumped up and down, excitedly. _

_They looked up. There it was. And there was the sound of everyone chanting for them to kiss. She could feel her cheeks redden. _

"_They're not going to let up." He whispered to her. _

"_Yeah, I didn't think so." She reached up and wrapped her free hand around his neck as he leaned and placed his lips on hers. Everyone cheered and all she could think was that he tasted like peppermint._

The ringing of the phone brought an abrupt halt to her thoughts. _Was he calling back?_

She quickly answered. "Florrick, Agos and Associates."

"You answer your own phone? Seriously?"

She smiled. "Tess! Finally." She breathed.

"I'll say. Haven't heard from you in forever and I just find out you've left three messages today. Everything ok?"

"Lucy's here."

"What?! Is she ok?"

"Yes. Don't worry. She's perfectly fine." She reassured her. "I just thought you'd want to know."

"Oh thank God. Thank you so much for calling me. I was worried sick." She heard her voice crack.

"Hey. She's fine. She's staying with me." She looked around at the party in progress around her. "Look, I'm sorry; I'm hosting a holiday party..."

"You?"

"Right? Anyway, I should get back to playing hostess. I'll have Lucy call, ok? I promise."

She can hear Tess sigh. "Thank you."

"I'll call again. Soon."

"You better."

As she made her way back to the party, she spotted her mother with Jackie on the other side of the room. "Oh, God." Movement behind her caught her attention. "Well, it's about time."

"See? I told you." Grace scolded.

"He's old enough to drive?"

"She wouldn't let me drive my own car, Mom."

Alicia laughed at them, shaking her head before pointing in the direction of their grandmothers. "Can you guys handle that?" She turned at the sound of her name. "Go. Go." She urged them on.

She walks over to Cary, with a questioning look on her face. "What?"

"These guys want to talk to us." He points to the "band" that they hired for the party. "Say they need our help."

She sighed as Cary moved out of her way and they joined the gentlemen, and their laptop, in the conference room.

* * *

The following week, Lucy rushed into the courtroom and looked around for Alicia. She rolled her eyes when she heard that stupid song playing. She spotted Cary and quietly made her way up to him. He turned when he heard her approach. "How many times have you been tortured with that?" he shook his head, annoyed. "Where's Alicia?" she whispered.

"She said something about changing." He shrugged. "I thought she'd be back by now."

"Alright...well she needed this." She handed him a folder and sat down behind him.

She listened as Will questioned the witness on the stand and turned when she heard the door open behind her. Alicia walked in, confidence oozing from her. She smiled at her and whispered as she passed. "Cary has the file."

"Thank you." She mouthed back.

She took note of the way Will looked at Alicia, and clearly lost his concentration, as she sat down. _What ya looking at there, Mr. Gardner? _She thought, smirking. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. _Tess._ She looked up when she heard Will pause and saw him glancing at Alicia, growing flustered. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who noticed. As much as she wanted to continue watching, she knew she should take the call from her sister. "Hold on. I have to leave the courtroom. Don't hang up." She whispered into her phone as she walked out.

* * *

"You created the show, so this scene mattered to you." He heard the door open and instantly knew it was her. He was wondering where she'd been. He half-heard the witness' answer to his question. Just as he opened his mouth to continue, he felt her. She brushed past him as she made her way to her seat at the table. His breath hitched. "And you..." Her legs. That suit. THAT suit. "I mean..." _Get it together, man. Focus. _"That's why you covered..." he swallowed, hard.

_He follows her into the room and quietly closes the door, locking it. He slowly walks over to where she is standing, looking around nervously. "Having second thoughts?" _

_She quickly turned her head in his direction. "What? No." she smiled to reassure him. _

_That smile. It's still the most beautiful thing he's ever laid eyes on. He removes his jacket and draped it over the nearest chair. As he began to unbutton her jacket, his nerves kicked in and he started to fumble with the buttons. Suddenly her hands were on his, helping him. He looked up and into her eyes, as she leaned in to kiss him… _

"Mr. Gardner?" Judge Marx pulled him back to the present. "Any more questions?"

"No." He shook his head. "No. We're good."

"We need another attack." Burl glared at him as he sat down next to him.

* * *

"I know, Tess. I'm sorry." Lucy made her way back to the courtroom. "I'm fine, I promise." She spotted Alicia ahead of her, leaning against a wall, typing on her phone. "Oh, hey, I think Alicia is waiting for me. I'll call you back later. Love you." She stopped when she saw Will approaching her.

"So you decided to change, huh?"

"Yup. Into what I wore the night you banged me the first time." Lucy's jaw dropped and her eyes widened in shock. _Did she really just…?_ She noticed that even Will looked taken aback by that comment.

"That's pretty low of you."

"I know. I wasn't so discriminating back then."

She remained standing in the same spot, still wearing the look of shock when Will turned and spotted her. He just shook his head and looked back in the direction Alicia had just walked.

"You..." he turned back to her. "You look like you could use a drink…or five." He nodded. "Umm…let's go." She grabbed his arm and led the way, while she sent a text to Owen with her free hand.

_I think you should go see your sister tonight. With wine. Wait no...tequila. Kids are with Peter. I'll be there later._

* * *

"How did you know I needed this?" she asked after her second shot.

He waved his hand, dismissing her question. "Why don't you tell me WHY you needed it?" She took a deep breath as he poured them another shot. She rested her chin on her hand. "You're pouting. That means it has to do with Will."

She furrowed her brows. "I am not pouting."

"Don't try to lie. It's unbecoming of you." He replied, deadpan, pushing the shot glass closer to her. "What happened? Talk to Oprah."

She giggled before drinking the shot. "I let him get to me. That's all." She said waving her hand. He poured another round of shots. "Should we talk about what happened between you and Lucy?"

He looked at her, a mix of surprise and annoyance on his face. "No. I'm here to make you feel better. Not talk about stupid things I've done." She looked at him, amused. "At least not this visit."

"You never answered my question."

"I believe I just did."

"No..." she rolled her eyes. "How did you know I needed this?" he shrugged. "It was Lucy, wasn't it?"

"Why can't it just be that I wanted to see you and get you drunk?" he asked as she drank her fourth shot. "Where is she anyway?"

She thought for a moment. "You know… I have no idea…" she stood from her chair. "Whoa." She steadied herself before turning to walk away. "Let me call her." Before she could make it to her purse to retrieve her phone, there was a knock at the door. "Oh. That's probably her. She forgets her key sometimes." She said, turning back.

"I'll get it." Owen said as he walked ahead of her. She leaned on the wall as he pulled the door open. "Why are you so irrespons…? Oh."

She looked up and her breath caught. _What in the hell…_

"She...is drunk." Will said, pointing to Lucy, who waved emphatically at them.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Once again, thank you ALL for the lovely reviews! Hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

Alicia's eyes locked with Will's. Longer than they should have, really. But, she couldn't look away. _His eyes._ This was the first time in weeks that he looked at her and hate wasn't pouring out of them for her. She took note of the fact that he didn't look away, either. _Snap out of it, Alicia. Say something. _

Looking from his sister to Will and back to her again, Owen decides to break the ice. "Um, thank you..." he says as he reaches out to grab a hold of Lucy. "Come on, Luce." He looks to Will again. "We really appreciate you making sure she made it home safely."

Lucy slapped his hand away. "I'm not drunk." She slurred. "I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own, thank you very much." She tripped into the apartment and stumbled into Alicia, stepping on her bare foot in the process. "Ow!" she yelled. Will quickly moved to help and proved to be quite unsteady on his own two feet. He straightened up, cleared his throat and avoided eye contact with Alicia. Lucy giggled next to her. "Now he?" she looked at Alicia and pointed to Will. "HE is drunk. I'm fine." She moved to step away, lost her balance and steadied herself with the help of the hall table. She put her hand up to stop Alicia from helping. "I'll be fine."

"Hey...you ok?" Owen asked Will.

He nodded. "I'm good." He smoothed out his jacket. "Thank you. I...I should go." He spoke slowly, careful not to slur his words. He raised his eyes to Alicia's again.

Owen moved around her. "Come on; let me get you into bed."

Alicia's head whipped around. "Hey! No! No no no. I will help her into bed. You stay far away from her." She scolded. She turned back to Will, who now wore a look of amusement and confusion.

"Are you kidding?" she heard Owen complain behind her. "We're not going to-..ow! What is wrong with you?" he asked Lucy as he rubbed his chest where she'd just pinched him.

"Would you shut up?" Lucy whispered to him, gesturing to Alicia and Will.

Alicia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them, Will watched her with a smirk. "Some things never change, huh?"

She chuckled. "You have no idea." She smiled at him, nervous. "Thank you. For...for bringing her home."

He put his hands up to stop her and shook his head. "Don't thank me. I would never let her... She's... I mean..." He took a deep breath. "I get the impression she's trying to forget something." He looked into her eyes. "I know what that's like." _Ouch. _He turned to leave.

"Don't let him leave!" she heard whispered behind her. She turned and glared, unsure which of them said it and quickly turned back.

"Will..." she called after him. He stopped and turned a little too quickly, given how he placed his hand on the wall for support. She smirked. "Did you drive here?" He shook his head. She sighed and stepped back, opening the door wider, inviting him in.

"Alicia, it's ok. You don't-"

"Will." She said sternly. "I am not letting you leave here..." he gave in and entered her apartment. "...drunk." she finished.

He quickly turned, losing his balance and stumbled into her as she was locking the door. "I...I'm..." he stuttered. "I'm not drunk." He said quietly as their eyes locked, once again.

Breathing was hard while caught between his body and the door. She held his gaze a little longer before slowly looking away and gazing down at his hand on hers. The reason behind the feeling of electricity going through her body. A small smile formed on her lips. "Right. You're not drunk at all." She shook her head. "I'll go make some coffee for you; you take off your shirt."

"My what?"

"Your coat?" she looked at him amused. "And you say you're not drunk."

"Um...Leesh? You just told him to take off his shirt." Lucy whispered as she moved closer to her.

"I what? No, I didn't." Lucy nods and she feels the color rising in her cheeks as she replays her own words in her head. _Shit. _She looks up to see Will smirking at her as he removes his coat.

"Have YOU been drinking?"

"I...um..." she laughs nervously. "I'm fine."

"Yup." Owen interrupts, taking Will's coat from him. "A whole four shots of tequila fine. Lucy, why don't you take Will into the dining room?" He watches as she pushes Will ahead of her and turns back to his sister. "And you, take this..." he hands her the coat. "...into your bedroom."

"What? Why would I do that?" she protested.

"Shh, shh, shh. Just do it. And while you're in there..." he moved closer and lowered his voice. "Fix yourself up. You look a mess."

"Excuse me?" he gestured toward the dining room with his head. "What? No. Oh Owen, please." She shook her head. "Now, if you're done insulting me..." She moved to walk past him. "..I have coffee to make."

"No!" he pulled her back and pushed her in the direction of her bedroom.

"Owen!"

"I'll go make the coffee. You go do what I told you to do."

"But...I..."

"Just go." He said as he again pushed her gently toward her bedroom.

"Ugh. Fine." She shook her head as she walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

She placed Will's coat on her bed and looked around. She cleared it of the clothes she'd tossed there earlier in her rush to change and straightened it out. Taking a step back, "What are you doing? Why are you clearing your bed off? You're not bringing him in here. What's wrong with you?" she asked herself. She glanced at her reflection in the full-length mirror. Blue jeans. White button-up top. "What's wrong with this? I look fine." She tilted her head to the side and stared at her reflection a little longer. _Maybe a different top,_ she decides. She walks into her closet, looks through a few things and stops. "You can't change your clothes, stupid. That's not going to go unnoticed." She shakes her head as she makes her way over to her vanity and sits in front of the mirror, taking in the state of her face. "Ok, little brother. You win. I will at least fix my makeup." She says to no one. Fixing her eyeliner, adding a little bit of mascara, and a touch of red to her lips does the trick. She runs her hands through her hair and examines herself one last time in the mirror.

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _

_She takes a deep breath and pulls her eyes away from her reflection in the mirror._

_Knock. Knock._

_One last look, one last deep breath and she moves to open the door._

_He's leaning against the doorframe. His smile instantly causing the rambling thoughts in her head to still and the butterflies in her stomach take over. There are those sultry eyes that Owen always talks about. She returns his smile, grabs his tie wrapping it around her hand and tugs, pulling him inside. Wrapping her arms around his neck she pulls him into a deep kiss. _

_He slowly pulls away, smirking. "Hello to you, too." He teases as he places his jacket onto the chair in her entryway and removes his tie._

_She blushes. "What can I say?" she starts to unbutton his shirt. "I'm happy to see you." She raises herself up on her toes to kiss him again. _

"_If this is how you're going to be after not being alone with me for three days, I think I can get used to it." He mumbles into the kiss. She pulls away to remove his shirt. "Do I get a tour of your apartment?"_

_She smiled up at him. "Of course." She turns in her spot and points. "There's the living room, dining room, kitchen, kids rooms."_

_He chuckles at her. "Ok. And...where is YOUR bedroom?"_

"_Ohhhh...that? Well that, Mr. Gardner, would be right over there." She says pointing off to the left of them. _

"_Uh-huh. I see. I think I need a closer look at that one." In one quick fell swoop, he lifts her off of her feet and rushes toward her bedroom, causing her to erupt in a fit of giggles._

Will's laugh brings her back to the present. She shakes her head and looks in the mirror again. "I'm wearing the same thing I wore that night. That's just...great." She glances at her closet one last time, sighs heavily and leaves her bedroom.

* * *

He hears her door open and turns to see her approaching, slowly. She looks like her mind is somewhere else. He turns away before she can catch him watching her.

"You guys want to see her freak out? Watch this." Owen whispered. "Hey sis?" she mumbled a response as she made her way over to them. "Mom called while you were in there. She's on her way over."

She snapped to attention. "What?! Owen! Why would you let her? No no no no, call her back. Tell her I'm asleep. Tell her I'm dead. Anything that will make her not come over." He looked up at her and tried to remain serious. Unable to contain it any longer, Will starts laughing and Owen is right there with him. "Oh you ass!" she says, slapping him on his arm.

He looks at Will. "See?" he says through his laughter. "Do I know her or what?"

"That was mean and you're a jerk." Lucy said to him.

"You always defend her. Without fail." Will said to her.

"Jealous?"

"Why do I smell popcorn and not coffee?" Alicia asked, looking at the table. "Why are you guys drinking the tequila? Oh God."

"Join us, come on." Lucy grabbed her hand, pulling her down into the seat next to her and across from Will. She proceeded to pour a shot for her.

"Honey, you're getting more on the table than you are in the glass. Give it to me." She grabs the bottle from her and looks at Will for the first time since exiting her room. "How much did she drink?"

He shrugged and searched his fuzzy mind for the answer. "I...I...have no idea."

Lucy pushes the glass closer to her. "You have to catch up." She giggled.

"That's not happening. But, I will drink this one."

"You never could hold your liquor."

Owen looked at him. "I'm sorry. Do you even know my sister?"

"Not the hard stuff, at least."

"You're obviously getting me confused with someone else." She said to him, with a hint of a jealous undertone.

"He actually does have a point there. You never-" He stops mid-sentence when Lucy throws popcorn at him. "What the hell?"

"Shut. Up." She tells him.

"Do you remember the first time you were drunk off of tequila?" Will asked Alicia, with a smirk on his lips.

"Oh, I do. But, you shouldn't since you weren't there for it." He looked at her, visibly confused. "What you're thinking of is.." she drinks her shot, leans forward and folds her hands in front of her on the table. "YOUR first time drunk off of tequila." She smiled and raised her eyebrows at him.

He cocks his head and looks at her, thoughtfully.

"_Oh come on, Will. Are you scared of tequila? Stop being a baby and catch up. We're two shots ahead of you." Tess teased him. _

"_Nah, I'm good. Just going to stick to my beer." He says, raising his bottle._

_Alicia grabs his face with her hands. "William Paul Gardner, we just passed our first year of law school. Put the beer down and take a fucking shot."_

_His eyes widened in shock. He'd never heard her swear before. "Leesh, did you just..?"_

"_Tequila makes her feisty." Tess informed him. She looked up when someone called her from across the bar. "Have fun!" she said before leaving them alone._

"_Can I have another round for me and my friend here?" Alicia asked the bartender. She looked at him and smiled. "You'll thank me later."_

_Five shots later, they stepped out of the bar and into the rainy night to get some air. "You okay?" she asked him. _

_He nodded, smiling. "I'm great. But, I am hot." He stepped out from under the awning and into the rain, pulling her with him._

"_Will! What are you doing? It's pouring rain!" _

"_Doesn't this feel good?" He let go of her hand and ran ahead of her into the parking lot. "Come on! Run around in the rain with me!"_

_She giggled as she joined him. He loved her laugh. It was music to his ears. He loved her smile. It was contagious and it never failed to brighten his day. He loved the way her forehead crinkled when she was intently reading something. The way she twirled her pen in her hands when she was pensive. The way she tilted her head to the side and smirked when he said something stupid. He found himself laughing as she spun around in the rain and stopped, clearly feeling dizzy. They were soaked from head to toe, but in that moment, with her curls dripping water, makeup smudged and raindrops on her eyelashes, she was never more beautiful to him. _

_He took two large steps and found himself in front of her. She blinked up at him, peering at him through her lashes. Gently placing his hands on her face, he leaned down and kissed her. Her lips were softer than he imagined and she tasted like honey. She pulled away. "Will..." she said, breathlessly. He even loved the way she said his name. "I'm not going to apologize, because I'm not-" Her lips on his cut him off. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her pulling her closer._

He cleared his throat and looked away. "Um, I...I...bathroom." he said as he rose from the chair.

Alicia looked down to hide her smile. Owen tried to kick Lucy under the table. "Ow! Owen, what the hell?" Alicia yelled.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to kick YOU." He said eyeing Lucy and nodding toward Will.

She jumped to attention. "Oh...OH...wait! I have to pee. Ladies first!" she says as she runs in front of Will to the bathroom.

"What...ugh...seriously, Lucy?" he yells after her.

"Sorry!" she yells back before closing the door.

"Just use Alicia's." Owen told him, ignoring the death stare she shot at him.

He shook his head. "It's fine. I'll wait."

"No, Will. It's ok. Go ahead." She told him. "Go."

When she heard the door close, she slapped Owen on his head. "What is wrong with you? What are you two up to?"

"Owwww!" he rubbed his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Owen. I will not play any of your little games." She warned him.

He looked at her defensively. "I'm not... Just... Stop being so paranoid, ok?" he looked to make sure Will was not within earshot. "You should go check on him. I do honestly think he had much more to drink than Lucy."

She looked toward her bedroom. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Would you stop being such a prude and just go?"

She looked at him, clearly offended. "You sure are full of insults tonight, you know that?" he nodded his head toward her room. She stood up. "For the record, I'm just going to check on him. Nothing else." He smirked as she walked away. "And I'm not a prude!" she turned back and hissed at him.

* * *

"Oh." She stopped as soon as she walked into her room. Will was sitting on the edge of her bed. "Are you..." she took another step. "Are you ok?"

"It was our first kiss." He said quietly.

She looked behind her, out into the apartment and closed her door. "Wha...What did you say?" she took a few steps toward him.

"It was... My first time..." he waved his hand around. "With tequila. It was the night we had our first kiss."

"I know." She said softly.

He glanced up at her and reached out placing his hands on her waist, pulling her closer.

"Will..." her voice cracked.

"I know." He said, closing his eyes and leaning his head against her stomach. He swallowed hard. "I know."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Once again, many thanks to everyone for the lovely reviews and the follows/faves! I am no longer a few chapters ahead. Rest assured though, I have already started working on the next one. However, life is about to get SUPER busy so I'm not sure when the next update will come. Hopefully, it won't be too long of a wait. **

**Please enjoy: Alicia + Will + Tequila = Honesty Hour.**

* * *

"_It was... My first time..." he waved his hand around. "With tequila. It was the night we had our first kiss."_

"_I know." She said softly. _

_He glanced up at her and reached out placing his hands on her waist, pulling her closer. _

"_Will..." her voice cracked._

"_I know." He said, closing his eyes and leaning his head against her stomach. He swallowed hard. "I know."_

_She knew the memory would elicit a reaction from him, that's why she brought it up. But, she didn't expect this one. Didn't expect him to get emotional. No, that was a lie. She expected emotion, just not like this. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Tentatively, she raised her right hand and lowered it, slowly running it through his hair. _

_He shivered at the light contact. "Why?" he whispered. "Why did you do it?"_

_Her hand stopped at the nape of his neck. "I..." she looked down at him, confused. "What?"_

_Not letting go of her, he lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Why did you leave?" he could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. "Owen came to see me a couple of weeks ago."_

"_He what? Why? What did he tell you?"_

"_I want to hear it from you." She shook her head, exasperated and removed herself from his grasp, moving for the door. He quickly grabbed a hold of her hand, stopping her. "No." she looked back, eyes wide. "You're not walking away from this. Not again. We're talking." He told her, firmly._

"Mrs. Florrick?" he cleared his throat, a little louder. "Mrs. Florrick?"

Slowly, she turned to her right and glanced upward. "Mr. Hayden." She shook her head, slightly. "I'm sorry." She smiled, apologetically.

Clarke wore a look of concern. "Are you well, Mrs. Florrick?"

"I'm fine." She lied, nodding slightly. In truth, she was not. She wasn't sure what she was, actually. It'd been a few weeks since that night and it was still repeatedly playing in her mind as if it were yesterday. She took a deep breath. "How can I help you?" she asked, gesturing for him to take the seat across from her.

He accepted the invitation, lowering himself into the chair. "I believe Mr. Agos and I have finally completed the contract." He placed the file on her desk. "I just thought that maybe you'd like to review it and give the final approval."

She blinked. "Contract?" She reached for the file. "What contract?"

"For Miss Wilde?"

"Oh! Right. I'm sorry, must have slipped my mind." She replied, opening the folder.

He shifted in his seat. "Mrs. Florrick, if I may?" She looked up, inviting him to continue. "Lately, you've seemed a bit…preoccupied." He hesitated, gauging her before continuing. "Perhaps, some time off would do you some good? Just a few days."

Placing the folder down in front of her, she folded her hands and glanced at him, taking in his suggestion before replying. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think that might actually be a good idea, Mr. Hayden." She smiled, causing him to visibly relax before her. "Maybe when we return from New York."

He nodded. "Speaking of, I should make sure all of the travel arrangements are in order." He rose from his seat. "Again, Miss Wilde will share a suite with you, correct?"

"Yes, thank you." She chuckled. "I guess I should tell her that she'll be joining us." Gesturing toward the contract in front of her, "I'll be sure to throw it in while I'm trying to convince her to sign this."

"I'll be more than pleased to assist you with that, Mrs. Florrick. But, might I suggest…one thing at a time?"

"Thank you, Mr. Hayden. Very good point and I may take you up on that." She smiled as he nodded and retreated from her office, leaving her to review said contract.

"Oh! Mrs. Florrick," he turned back. "How's your speech coming along?"

"Ugh." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Dammit. You know what?" She pushed back from her desk and stood. "I think I'll head home early so I can work on that. You'll call if you need me?" she asked as she gathered her belongings.

"Of course. Good luck Mrs. Florrick and please…" she gave him her attention. "Take it easy."

She smiled. "I will, Mr. Hayden."

* * *

_She sat next to him with her legs folded under her. "What did Owen tell you?"_

_He shook his head. "Answer my question."_

"_Will..." she looked up and into his eyes. Eyes that seemed to plead with her, beg her, to tell him the truth. He looked away, shaking his head, when she hesitated to continue. "That night." She started. "In your car... It just... I don't know..." she shook her head, struggling to find the right words. "It..." Deep breath. "It scared me." She whispered. Slowly, he turned to look at her with the unspoken question written all over his face. "It was the first time I reali-..no...it was the first time that I let myself see that...this...whatever THIS is...between us..." she closed her eyes and mentally chastised herself over her inability to form coherent, complete sentences. She opened her eyes and met his gaze. "I couldn't deny what I felt between us... What I felt for you... And I...I...I didn't want to." She said firmly. Confusion was now written all over his face. "But... Peter... I had recommitted to my marriage. So..." she took another deep breath to fight the onslaught of tears she felt approaching. _

_Finally, he found his voice. "So, you thought the best option was to steal my top clients and leave my firm?" He put up his hand to stop her when she tried to speak. "Leaving me to think..." he shook his head. "To wonder...what the hell I did to make you want to end our friendship of over 20 years?" He looked at her and she lowered her eyes, his harsh tone surprising her. "Because above all else...the feelings I have for you...this thing between us..." he continued, his voice softening. "Losing my best friend is what hurt the most."_

_Choking back her tears, she whispered. "You didn't lose me." She took a shaky breath. "I never meant for this to happen. For you to hate me."_

_He sighed. "Dammit, Leesh." Her head shot up. He hadn't used his nickname for her in a long time. "Why didn't you just talk to me? I told you that night that we needed to talk." He looked at her as a tear escaped her eye. "You told me once that you needed a plan. Leesh..." There it was again. "I..." he sighed again, shaking his head. "We could have made one."_

_After a bit of hesitation, unsure of what his reaction might be, she leaned forward and placed her lips on his._

"Mom?" they looked at each other when she didn't immediately reply. "Hello, earth to Mom." Grace waved her hand in front of her.

She emerged from her haze and smiled. "Hey guys. How was school?"

"You ok, Mom?" Zach asked, his voice laced with concern.

"Yes, I am."

"What are you doing home so early?"

She pointed at the laptop sitting in front of her. "Working on my speech."

Zach looked at the screen and eyed his mother. "It's blank, Mom."

She chuckled.

"Is Aunt Lucy home, too?" Grace interrupted.

"No. She'll probably be home from work soon, though."

"Is she feeling better?"

"Hmm?"

"She wasn't feeling good this morning."

In that moment, Alicia was overcome with a wave of guilt. "You know...I have not seen or spoken to her all day."

"How's that possible? You work together." Zach asked.

Alicia looked at the blank page in front of her. "I...I don't know." She looked back at them. "I'll check on her when she gets home."

Grace nodded. "Ok, I'm going to go start my homework." She said as she left them, headed for her bedroom.

Zach took a seat in the chair next to his mother. "Mom..." he started, hesitating. "Are you...are you ok?"

She looked at him, surprised. "I'm fine, honey. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that... Lately, you just seem... I don't know...in another world. At first..." he looked down. "At first, I was worried that maybe Dad did something to hurt you again." He admitted. "But, there have been a few times where I've caught you smiling for no reason. So, I figured that couldn't be it."

"Aw, honey." She ran her hand through his hair and reached over to kiss his cheek. "You don't have to worry about me."

"Yes, I do. If I don't, who will?"

She caressed his cheek. "When did you grow up? I didn't give you permission."

He smirked and stood up. "You should work on your speech."

She looked at her laptop and sighed. "I should."

"I'll make us dinner. That way you can focus."

"Oh no..." she said standing up. "That's it. Now you have to let me hug you." She stood before him, arms outstretched. "Come on."

He groaned in defeat as he walked into her arms. "I'm really proud of you, Mom." He said, hugging her back.

She closed her eyes, smiling and tightened her grip on him. "Thank you, baby."

* * *

He clicked open the email containing the information for the upcoming Bar Association convention he and Diane were scheduled to attend in New York. As he read, he could feel the smile forming on his lips as he reached the name of the keynote speaker: Alicia Florrick_. Of course. _

_Her lips were on his. Warm and salty from her tears. As surprised as he may have been by her actions, he didn't pull away. He savored the moment until she pulled back and their eyes met, briefly. She inhaled deeply, leaning her forehead against his. He lightly caressed her cheek, wiping her tears away. "You haven't called me that in so long." She said, her voice barely a whisper. He's not sure who made the move this time. All he knows is that their lips meet again and this time she wraps her arms around his neck. He ran his hand along hers, pulling her to him deepening the kiss. Soon enough, they were no longer sitting; they were lying, their limbs entangled until she broke the connection. _

"_We can't... We shouldn't...do this."_

"_You're right." She was. He knew that. He looked over at her and moved to sit up, but she stopped him. _

"_I just... I don't..." she looked at him. _

"_I know." He says, defeated._

_She shakes her head. "No. Will... I just don't want us to do anything that might be fueled by the amount of alcohol you..." he raises his eyebrows and she smiles. "WE...have consumed."_

_He nodded as way of agreement and sighed, once again moving to sit up. "I should go." Her hand was on his arm, stopping him. _

"_No. Stay. Please." He looked at her, questioningly. "You said... Before... You said we could have made a plan." She took a deep breath and continued. "Is that something you'd still want to do?"_

_He laid back, his body next to hers once again. "Alicia..." he started. She turned her head to face him. He chuckled. "God...remember when we used to do this? Back at Georgetown? Lay side by side, talking? It was the only way I could get you to relax once you'd get all fired up over something."_

_She smiled. "I do." She replied with a hint of nostalgia in her voice._

_He sighed. "Alicia..." he repeated as he turned his head to face her. "I don't hate you. I could never hate you. My heart is incapable of associating that emotion with you. What I feel..." he shook his head. "Do you remember that time you asked me about a voicemail I left you? A few years ago?" she nodded, urging him to continue. He took a deep breath before doing so. "I lied."_

"_What?" she whispered before rising up on her arm so that she had a better look of his face._

_A little worried that she might bolt from the room and their much needed talk, he entwined his hand with hers before explaining. "I told you that the message said I thought you made the right decision in picking Peter. And in all actuality, that could not be further from the truth." He squeezed her hand. "You told me you needed a plan. So, I told you that my plan was that I love you. That I've probably loved you ever since Georgetown." He watched as the shock and realization of the words he'd just said to her registered on her face. He also took notice that she, in fact, did not try to leave._

_She shook her head. "Why... Will... Why didn't you tell me?"_

_He shrugged. "It wasn't the right... I didn't want to complicate things for you." She shook her head again, visibly trying to take in what he was saying. He sighed. "We've always had bad timing."_

_She untangled her hand from his and his heart sank. She was going to leave. He knew it. They'd made so much headway tonight; finally saying things that needed to be said. To no avail, because in a few seconds she'd end this moment. _

_Instead, she tentatively laid her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his torso. Without hesitation, he moved his arms around her body inviting her to move closer. When she did, he placed a kiss on her head, inhaled her scent and tightened his embrace._

He looked over to his left, where his cell phone lay and picked it up. After a little hesitation, he opened his contacts, located the name he went in search of and typed his message.

* * *

She groaned and closed her laptop, forcefully.

"Mom, maybe take a break and go back to it after dinner. It's almost ready." Zach offered.

She smiled and turned when she heard the front door open. "Hey, you." She greeted Lucy. "Heard you weren't feeling too hot today."

"Look at you, still mothering me." She made her way to the kitchen, stealing a tomato slice that Grace had just cut. "It was just a migraine. All good now." She smiled at her to prove her point.

"You sure?" she put up her hands in defeat when Lucy shot a look of feigned annoyance at her. "Well, good. You're coming with me to New York in two days."

"I'm what?!"

She nodded. "Your sister wants to see you. Don't try to fight me on it." She shot at her when she tried to speak up. "It's just for two days. It's not the end of the world. Besides, don't you want to be there for moral support as I give my speech?"

Lucy exhaled, giving in. "Fine. You really have perfected the art of laying on the guilt over the years, you know that?" Alicia laughed as Grace and Zach nodded in agreement. "How is your speech coming along anyway?"

"It's not."

"What's the problem?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Just can't seem to get the words out."

"Hey, what's up with Mr. Hayden?"

She looked at her, surprised. "What? What happened? Is he ok?"

"Whoa. Relax. Nothing happened. He just told me, numerous times today, to make sure that you're taking it easy and not stressing out. Blah, blah, blah." She finished, waving her hand around for emphasis.

She laughed at Lucy. "Oh, that. He thinks I need to take some time off." She looked to see three sets of knowing eyes on her. "I know. He's right. I'm considering it."

"So, do we need to go stay with Dad while you're in New York or will he come here?" asked Zach.

"Since you both have school, Springfield isn't an option. He has lots of meetings this week, so his staying here won't work, either."

"Oh, please. Not Grandma Jackie." Grace said.

Bursting into laughter, Alicia shook her head. "No. Uncle Owen."

Lucy looked at her, surprised. "Really? You trust him alone with them?"

"Because we're old enough to take care of ourselves." Zach said as he and Grace started to place dinner on the table.

"And him." Grace added.

Lucy giggled as Alicia answered. "That's not entirely true. I do trust him, yes."

"Would you if they were...I don't know...babies?"

"I didn't then. Now?" she contemplated the idea. "Maybe."

"Alright, dinner is done. I followed every single thing Mom does, so if it's terrible? Blame Grace for never letting me be the one to cook." Zach informed them.

"Hey!" Grace swatted at him across the table.

"Ha! I'm sure it's fantastic Zach and not just because I'm starving." Lucy playfully added.

After dinner, Alicia retreated to her bedroom with a glass of wine and her laptop at the insistence of Lucy and her kids, who were adamant that she needed to be alone in silence in order to focus. She changed into comfortable clothes, sat on her bed and opened her laptop. As she waited for it to power up, she reached over for her wine glass. She looked at her cell phone as a text from Owen came through.

_Should I come by tomorrow after work to get your list of do's and don'ts while you're gone?_

She chuckled to herself and replied. As she hit send, she noticed she had another message. Her pulse quickened when she saw the name of the sender.

_Congratulations. I'd be lying if I said I was surprised. And we both know what happens when I lie. I look forward to watching you enrapture that entire audience with your words. _

Her eyes widened in shock as she quickly typed her response.

_You'll be at the conference as well?_

She hit send and immediately typed another.

_Oh and thank you!_

Before her message had completely sent, his response came through.

_I wouldn't miss it for the world._

She smiled, looking over to the blank page awaiting her words. Putting down her phone, she took a sip of her wine. Grabbing the laptop and sitting back comfortably, she finally started to type; the words suddenly flowing with ease.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I've updated! Life took over and I had been struggling with this one. Hopefully, you're all still with me and will be after this chapter.**

* * *

Lucy rushed after Alicia. "Would you slow down?" She complained as she caught up with her.

"I can't miss this flight, Lucy." She replied, continuing to their gate with determination.

"We still have like an hour until we board." She reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling them both to a stop in the middle of the terminal.

Alicia spun around and glared at her. "If you didn't take so long getting out of bed this morning, we wouldn't be late."

"Well, excuse me miss 'I woke up 4 hours early to doll myself up for the passengers of flight 626'!" She sighed. "I said I was sorry. My migraine came back last night so it was hard for me to get out of bed."

"Well, why didn't you just tell me that?" she asked, her tone softer. "Are you feeling better?"

Waving her hand to dismiss her concern, she caught sight of Cary and Clarke behind her waiting for them at their gate. "Oh, look. There they are." She made her way toward them and Alicia followed.

"Mrs. Florrick. Miss. Wilde. Good morning." Clarke greeted them.

Alicia smiled as she made her way to a nearby seat. "Good morning."

"We were waiting for you both to get here before we grabbed coffee." Cary said as he grabbed her suitcase and placed it with theirs.

"Oh, let me. Regular coffee, ok?" Lucy offered. They nodded and she placed her suitcase next to them. "Will you keep an eye on my bag?"

"I'll come with you, Luce." Alicia said as she stood.

As they walked back to the Starbucks they passed before, Lucy eyed Alicia as she nervously looked around them. "What…or who…are you looking for?"

Alicia sighed and shook her head. "Nothing…no one." She chuckled. _Lies._ _You should have just asked for his flight information. _As they waited in line, she eyed Lucy. "You never answered me." She looked at her confused. "Are you feeling better? If not, we should grab something for you to take for the flight."

"Oh, no worries. I'm fine." _Lies. Be careful. She's always been able to see right through you._

She eyed her suspiciously as she ordered and paid for their coffees. "Are you sure? Is there anything you want to talk about?" she asked. "Please, I'll welcome anything that takes my mind off of my life for a little while." _Because avoiding things has always worked out well for me in the past._

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Lucy glanced at Alicia quickly. _She is the easiest person for me to talk to, aside from Tess._

Growing concerned, Alicia placed her hand on her arm. "Lucy?"

"I'm late." She blurted out.

She looked at her watch. "Honey, I know I was being bitchy before, but we've got a good forty minutes before they even sta-" Her head snapped in her direction. "Wait. You…you don't…you don't mean…for…for the flight." She stuttered. Lucy shook her head, not looking at her. "Oh. Oh. Oh my God." She said before turning and walking away in shock.

"Alicia!" Lucy turned to go after her. "Ma'am? Ma'am! Your coffees!" She stopped and turned back. "I'm sorry. Thank you."

"You ok, Alicia? You look like you've seen a ghost." Cary asked as she approached them and slowly lowered herself into the nearest seat.

"Mrs. Florrick?"

"She…she's fine." Lucy rushed over and handed them their coffees. "Just nervous about her speech." She lied before occupying the seat next to her.

After what felt like an eternity of sitting next to a stoically silent Alicia and engaging in idle chitchat with Cary and Clarke, their flight began to board. After they were settled into their seats, she heard Alicia sigh next to her.

"It's Will's, isn't it?" she whispered.

"What?! Ewww! NO! Why would you even think that?"

Alicia glanced around them quickly. "Would you keep your voice down? The whole plane doesn't need to hear our conversation." She hissed at her.

"Well, maybe you should have thought of that before suggesting I slept with Will." She hissed back, clearly offended.

"What?!" Shock and confusion written all over her face, Alicia waited for an explanation. "Lucy, what…" she shook her head. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You just asked me if it's Will's."

Her eyes widened. "I did not. Did I?" Lucy nodded her head. "Oh my God. Owen. I meant Owen."

She narrowed her eyes at her. "But, you said Will. Guess we know where your mind is." She gasped. "That's why you're being all weird. You knew you would probably see him." She moved to stand from her seat. "Is he on our flight?" she looked behind them.

Alicia pulled her down. "Sit…the…hell…down." She forced her back into her seat. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh bullshit." She replied, grinning. "You never did say what happened in your bedroom that night. We just saw him rush out the next morning."

"That's because it's none of your damn business." She shot at her as she leaned back in her seat.

_She squinted against the sun filtering in through the blinds and lifted her head slightly. She was snuggled up next to Will. He was still there. She didn't remember when they had finally fallen asleep, but here they lay, fully clothed and wrapped in each other's arms. She smiled to herself as she laid her head back down. A loud bang followed by Lucy's muffled curses interrupted her thoughts._

"_I think…" she looked up at Will from where she lay on his chest when she heard his soft voice. "I think they're trying to wake you up so they can find out what happened last night." He smirked._

"_How long have you been awake?" she asked as she tried to remove herself from his embrace, causing him to pull her closer to him. _

"_No no no no. Don't move. Let me enjoy this a little longer." He smiled at her. "I always loved waking up next to you and watching you sleep."_

_She raised an eyebrow. "You watch me sleep?"_

_He chuckled in response as he lightly caressed her arm. "You ok? I mean…with…everything?" She nodded. "Are you sure?"_

_She smiled. "Yes, Will."_

"_If you're having any second thoughts-" _

_She placed her finger on his lips to stop him from offering her the out that she knew was sitting on the back of his tongue. Slowly, yet confident in her actions, she leaned toward him and placed her lips on his, kissing him tenderly. His hand in her hair, he softly moaned, making her smile. _

_He pulled away and sat up, groaning in frustration. "I better go."_

"_What? Why?"_

"_Alicia…" he looked at her as he stood from her bed. "If we're going to…I mean…you know…we just…we can't…" he shook his head, took a deep breath and looked in her eyes. "If I don't leave right now, I'm going to end up ripping your clothes off."_

_She looked down and smiled, blushing. "Oh. Well, it wouldn't be the first time." She joked._

_Shaking his head at her, he picked up his coat from the floor and quickly walked to her door. Turning back to her before opening it, he said, "That is not part of the plan, remember?" He smiled before turning back around and rushed out of her bedroom and apartment._

She bit her lip to hold back her smile.

"Oh, come on! That's not fair. I tell you ev- Oh. Hey…you."

Alicia turned to see Will standing in the aisle next to them and quickly sat up straight. She smiled up at him. "Hey."

He nodded at them, smiling. "Good morning."

"Will, we're all the way in row 30 since you decided to change our flight at the last minute, costing us our first class seats. Keep going." Diane appeared behind him. "Oh. Alicia. Hello."

"Hi Diane." She offered a genuine smile.

"Will? We're holding everyone up." She informed him. Lucy waved as they moved on and Alicia smiled when his fingertips grazed her forearm.

"Did you know he was on our flight?" Lucy whispered.

"No. And if I heard Diane right, he changed their flight to ours." She whispered back. "How did he even know what flight we were on?" she looked away thoughtfully until a smirk formed on her lips. "Of course. Kalinda."

Lucy sat back in her seat and didn't respond.

* * *

"Well…I now see why you changed our flight." Diane said as they settled into their seats.

Will looked at her, feigning confusion. "What…what are you talking about?"

"Am I to believe that our ending up on the same flight as Alicia is just a coincidence?"

"That is exactly what that is, Diane. Nothing else. I just thought we should get there earlier." He sits back and buckles his seatbelt. "Why do you always suspect something is going on?"

She gaped at him. "You can't be serious."

"If you'll excuse me, I have a nap to take." Placing ear buds in his ears, he sat back and smiled.

"_Oh God, Will!" The room filled with her moans as he felt her orgasm take over her body; her nails digging into his back causing him to lose control and succumb to his own. He laid his head on her chest in an effort to regain control of his breathing. Listening to her heart beat in time with his; he smiled when he felt her hand run through his hair softly. Placing a trail of light kisses along her collarbone, his lips finally find hers and they engage in a passionate kiss that leaves them even more breathless than they already were. Noticing the time, he unwillingly breaks their connection and leaves her body, smiling when he hears her groan in response. "Is it time to go already?" He grabs some fruit from the bowl that sits on the table and walks back to her. Leaning over her, he drops a raspberry into her mouth. "Lunch?" she smiled._

"_I promised it, didn't I?" He placed a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose as she giggled. _

_She turned onto her side as she watched him get dressed. "Why can't we just take the rest of the day as our lunch break? You are the boss, you know…" she eyed him, seductively._

_Abruptly halting the buttoning of his shirt, he slowly lowered himself onto the bed. "You're going to be late." He lightly slaps her ass, playfully. "I'll have to dock your pay." He said as he leaned in and placed his lips on hers. She wrapped her arm around his neck, deepening the kiss and jumped when she heard a phone ringing. _

"_It's mine." He stills her and reaches for his phone, looking at the screen. Holding his finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet, he answered. "Hey, Diane." She rolled her eyes, smirking. _

"_You on your way back?" Diane asked._

"_In about thirty minutes, why?"_

"_Kalinda thinks we might have a possibility on this torture case."_

"_Really?" He ran his hand along her thigh, repeatedly. "I thought everything was top, top secret."_

_Hey mom, pick up the phone! Hey mom, pick up the phone!_

_He covered his phone as Alicia gasped and jumped up from the bed rushing to silence hers._

"_I…where are you, Will?"_

"_Lunch?" He eyed Alicia as she ran into the bathroom and answered her phone. "I'll be there in about half an hour." He said as he promptly ended the call. _

"_I'll call you back." He heard her whisper before she turned back to him, panic in her eyes. "Did she hear it?"_

_He placed his phone back on the nightstand and quickly walked over to where she stood. "I don't know. Probably." He ran his hands up and down her arms. "Relax. I'm sure she won't say anything. It's not a big deal."_

"_Easy for you to say. You won't be the one she glares at in disappointment over the rim of her glasses." He chuckled and shook his head at her as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "So…" She started to unbutton his shirt. "Half an hour?"_

_He raised his eyebrows. "Seriously?" _

_Biting her lip, she nodded. "Mmhmm."_

"_You are insatiable." He whispered before pulling her into a passionate kiss and allowing her to push him back toward the bed. _

The ear bud being plucked from his ear pulled him back to the present. "What the…?" He sat up and faced Diane.

"Will. What are you up to?" She demanded. Sighing, he leaned his head back again and closed his eyes. "Wait. I don't even want to know." He opened one eye and looked at her. "Just tell me if I should be worried."

He took a few moments before answering. "No. I promise you that there is nothing for you to worry about." He smiled and held his ear bud up. "May I?"

* * *

"I'm hungry." Lucy complained as they made their way to passenger pickup.

"We'll get breakfast as soon as we get to the hotel." Cary told her.

Alicia looked up from her phone as she waited for it to power on. She eyed Lucy and moved closer to her. "Are you going to be ok or should we get you something to eat before we get in the car?" she whispered.

She shook her head. "That's ok. I'll be fine."

"You threw up three times, Lucy." She said, her voice laced with concern.

"It was a bumpy ride!" she threw back, defensively.

Her phone vibrating in her hand gained her attention again.

_How do you manage to look so beautiful, so early in the morning? Not that I'm complaining…_

"Mrs. Florrick?" She looked up to see Clarke holding the car door open for her, while their driver took her suitcase. Her phone vibrated again.

_PS. I think I've told you this before, but, I love those jeans on you. _

She looked around quickly. "Good news?" he asked as she climbed into the car. His question made her realize she was grinning as a result of Will's text, causing her to blush.

"Umm…"

"You're blushing!" Lucy teased. "Let me see what made that happen." She reached for her phone.

"Hey! No. Give…me…that." Cary and Clarke looked on in amusement as she struggled to pry her phone from Lucy's hand.

When it started to ring in her hand, Lucy shook her head and quickly gave it back to her. "It's Tess."

"Oh, now you want to give it back to me." She snatched her phone from her and answered the call. "Were you tracking our flight?"

"Maybe." She laughed. "Where are you?"

"We're in the car headed to the hotel."

"Ok, I'm walking into court right now. Should be done quick. Half hour at the most and then I'll head your way."

"Sounds good. I'll text you our room number when I check in."

* * *

Looking around the lobby for any sign of Alicia, he spots that federal investigator walking toward him. _What was his name again?_

"A lot of lawyers at this thing huh?" When Will didn't respond, he continued. "Do you have a minute?"

"No." he walked past him.

"I can take my time, Mr. Gardner." He said as he followed. "We always know that sooner or later the lawyers will talk. They want to talk. They need to talk. They know that attorney-client privilege only gets them so far."

Seeing the hotel gift shop, he walks in. "Ear plugs, please?"

"The problem you have, Mr. Gardner, is that voter fraud is an ongoing crime, a conspiracy." As the investigator, _what is his name?,_ droned on about Peter's latest would-be scandal, he paid for his ear plugs. Opening the package, he turns to face him. "If you're protecting the governor, you're just as guilty. The governor is not your friend." He snorts and places the ear plugs in his ears. "You can't freeze me out Mr. Gardner. I have subpoena power."

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you." He says rather loudly, pointing to his ears and shrugging, before walking away.

_No shit, the governor is not my friend. I'm not protecting HIM. _He thought to himself. Looking around the lobby again, he sighs, making a decision. Walking up to the front desk, he removes the ear plugs as the associate approaches him.

"How may I help you, sir?"

"I'm such an idiot. I'm meeting a friend and for the life of me, I can't remember what room she told me she was in. I'd call her, but of course…" he holds up his phone. "Phone is dead."

He sees her glance at his name tag briefly before resuming eye contact and smiling.

"I'd be happy to help you, Mr. Gardner. What is your friend's name?"

* * *

"Why are you pacing? Can you just sit still for five freaking minutes?" Alicia complained, almost an hour later.

Lucy stopped and sat on the sofa in their suite. "Sorry. I'm just anticipating the lecture from my sister."

She tilted her head and looked at her sympathetically. "Honey, you know that she does it because she loves you. I do it to Owen, too. Just ask him."

Lucy sat back and tried to relax. "I'm sorry."

Alicia looked confused. "For what?"

"Bringing stress into your life as if you didn't already have enough."

"Lucy. You didn't. If anything…" she took a deep breath. "You've helped me overcome some hurdles I placed in my own way."

"I wasn't drunk." She confessed.

"What?"

"That night? When Will brought me home because I was 'too drunk'?" she reminded her. "I had one drink. The rest I maneuvered into his glass."

"Why?"

"Owen and I… We thought if we could get the two of you in the same room…outside of work…then maybe you would actually figure your shit out."

Alicia shook her head and chuckled. "Of course." She whispered.

"Don't be mad. Owen only wants to see you happy. So do I."

Before she could reply, there was a knock at their door causing Lucy to stiffen in her position on the sofa as Alicia rose to answer it.

"Hi!" Tess exclaimed as she walked in and immediately enveloped her in a tight hug. "Alicia! You look amazing!" she said as she stepped back, taking her in.

"Thank you. So do you. I feel incredibly underdressed around you right now."

"Welcome to my world." Lucy commented.

"You." She placed her belongings on the chair in front of her. "Come here, you little brat." Slowly, Lucy made her way into her sisters waiting arms. "You had me so worried." she said with tears in her eyes.

"Don't do that, please. Don't cry." She said as she walked away.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

"Clearly, I wasn't. But, look at me. I'm fine. Can we just move on?" she whined as she sat back down.

Tess put her hands up, defeated. "Fine." Grabbing one of the bags she placed on the chair, she looked toward Alicia and held it out to her. "So…" she looked at her suspiciously. "You think you're pregnant?"

Alicia burst into laughter. "Oh no, honey. This is for your sister." She plopped herself down next to Lucy and handed her the pregnancy test.

"Wait? What? Lucy. You're pregnant?" she asked as she sat on her other side.

"Seriously?" she looked at Alicia.

"I want to know if I'm going to be an aunt. Tess has a right to know, too."

Tess shook her head. "Ok…I'm really confused. Can somebody throw me a bone here?"

"Wait… You mean Lucy didn't tell you she slept with Owen?" Alicia teased.

"Oh my God." Lucy sat back with her eyes closed and shook her head.

"Owen? As in your brother, Owen?" Alicia nodded. "But wait… Isn't he?"

"Yup."

"But…"

"I don't ask questions." She looked at her and they were immediately overcome with laughter.

"Ok. While you two have a good laugh, I'll go pee on the damn stick." Lucy said as she stood.

"Please let it be positive. Alicia and I would have so much fun being aunties together!" Tess teased.

"Oh, shut up." She glared at her as she made her way to the bathroom and closed the door.

Tess looked back to Alicia. "What the hell have you been dealing with?"

"Nothing a whole lot of wine doesn't help with." She chuckled. "Speaking of…would you like some?"

"Yes, please." She answered. "Thank you."

"No problem. It's noon somewhere, right?" Alicia joked as she poured their glasses.

"No. I mean, for taking care of Lucy. You didn't have to."

She tilted her head, thoughtfully. "Maybe not. But, I wanted to. It's been fun having her around. She's a smart cookie, Tess. You did good." She said handing her a glass and sitting down again.

"I think you can take credit for that, too. And Will." She smiled at her friend.

"Alright…now we wait." Lucy said as she emerged from the bathroom. "I'm still hungry, can we order some food?"

"Sure. There's a menu somewhere."

"Whoa. Déjà vu." They both looked at Tess, curiously. "Do you remember the last time we did this? Waited around for the result of a pregnancy test?"

Alicia took a sip of her wine and nodded. "I do."

"_How much longer?" She paced her living room, where Will occupied the sofa. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. _

"_It's only been one minute." Tess replied from the kitchen doorway. "Would you sit down?"_

_She shook her head. "I'm fine." She said as she continued to pace. Reaching up as she passed him, Will grabbed her arm and gently pulled her down onto his lap. _

"_Thank you!" Tess exclaimed. "She was making me nervous." She sat in the armchair across from them. "Can you handle sitting there for another four minutes?"_

_Leaning back, Will wrapped his arms around her bringing her closer to him and she laid her head on his chest. "I know it's easier said than done, but try to relax." He said softly as he ran his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. How he could be so calm, she didn't understand, but she was thankful one of them was. _

"_So…what are you guys going to do if it's positive?" Tess asked them._

_She felt his hand stop. "Well…we haven't really talked about it." _

"_We probably should." She said, quietly. _

_He glanced downward, avoiding eye contact. "I think we should wait. You know…until we know for sure if there is something to talk about."_

_She sat up and looked at him. "What difference does it make when we talk about it, Will? You can't avoid this."_

"_Leesh…" He sighed. "I'm not trying to avoid anything."_

"_Funny…because you haven't said anything about it since I told you I thought I was." She said as she stood, trying to move out of his reach._

"_Come here, baby. Don't do this." He pleaded._

"_Congratulations, you two! You're not pregnant." Tess said as she walked back from the bathroom. They both looked her way, shock and relief etched on their faces. "That's…a good…thing, right?" _

_Will cleared his throat and nodded his head. "Yeah…I mean…" he looked up at her. "Right?"_

_Swallowing hard, she nodded in agreement. "Yes."_

_Looking from one to the other, Tess raised her eyebrows. "Right. Ok. I'll go grab some beers for us to celebrate." She said as she made her way to the kitchen._

_She jumped when she felt Will take her hand and bring it to his lips. He eyed her suspiciously as he pulled her toward him. "Hey. You ok?" he asked._

_Exhaling, she smiled. "Yes. Yes, of course, I'm fine." She assured him as she hugged him. _

"You almost had a baby with Will?" Lucy's question pulled her from her memory.

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _

As she rose to answer the door, she looked questioningly at Lucy, who shrugged. "I haven't ordered our food yet."

"That's what broke you guys, wasn't it?" Tess asked.

"What?"

"You two were never the same after that day. I never brought it up because I could tell it was a touchy subject."

"You know what, Tess? Having Lucy around for the past couple of months has made me realize that the biggest problem Will and I have ever had, is our inability to properly communicate our thoughts and feelings to each other." She pulled the door open. "Oh…" She looked surprised. "Hey."

"Hey." Will said, glancing behind her nervously.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Glad to see that there is still interest in this story! Sorry this is so long. I needed humor. And fluff. And some of my favorite parts of 5x14. Hope you enjoy!**

**Huge thanks to Hayley (_sportsnightnut)_ for hearing me out and reassuring me that I made the right decision, allowing me to get this chapter done!**

* * *

"What…What are you doing here?" she whispered.

"I…I was…"

"Will Gardner, is that you?"

Lucy's head shot up from the menu and she peered in their direction, raising her eyebrows.

"Tess?"

Alicia swung the door open wider, waving her hand to invite him in.

"That is you!" Tess said as she walked toward him, arms outstretched. "It's been ages. How the hell are you?"

Hugging her back, he pulled away and smiled at her. "You look fantastic." He glanced at her left hand. "How are you still not married?"

She waved her hand dismissively and walked back to her spot on the sofa, Alicia standing behind her. "With as many marriages as I see turn bitter and fail? I think I'll stay single with lots of friends, thank you very much."

He eyed her, confused.

"She's a divorce lawyer, dodo." Lucy informed him.

"Really? I didn't realize that." Alicia commented. "I need one of you." She said before taking a sip of her wine. They all turned to look back at her, eyes wide and questioning. Realizing her mistake, she gulped down her wine. "My firm. My firm needs one of you." She clarified.

Eyeing her suspiciously, Lucy turned her attention to Will. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh. I…I…" he stammered before shrugging his shoulders. "I came to see if you wanted to grab lunch before I get dragged to a seminar by Diane."

She watched as Alicia moved from where she stood, making her way back to her seat on the sofa. "I was just about to order room service. If Alicia would ever tell me what she wants."

Turning to face Alicia, "I should have called, I'm-"

Head down, she replied at the same time. "No no no, it's-…Oh my God! Oh, Will. I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed when the wine from her glass ended up on his shirt and down the front of his pants. Tess quickly handed her the napkins Lucy passed her.

"It's…It's ok. Really." He said looking down at the mess.

"Shit. This is going to stain. Send me the bill; I'll take care of it." She mumbled as she dabbed at the wine with the napkins. When she reached his pants, he flinched, making her look up into his eyes. "I…I think…Maybe you should…" she stammered.

"Yeah. Um…I'll just…where's the bathroom?" he turned to see Lucy pointing him in the right direction.

Glancing back in her direction when the door closed, Tess took in Alicia as she sighed and sank into the sofa, head in her hands. "What…" she looked at Lucy before turning back to her. "…is going on?"

"Yeah, Leesh. What's going on?" Lucy smirked in her direction, only to be met by her glare.

* * *

He leaned his head on the door. _Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. _He lightly banged his head against it before turning to take in his reflection in the mirror. "Well, that went well." He said out loud to himself. "Probably would have been a good idea to make sure she was alone first, idiot." Surveying the current state of his clothes, he shook his head. "Send me the bill." He scoffed. "As if I would. Ugh." He looked around for a washcloth and spotted a stack of them in the corner of the counter. As he reached over to grab one, something caught his attention.

He leaned in for a closer look. "What the…?" _A pregnancy test? _He sighed, shaking his head again. "Of course." He muttered bitterly. _That's why she's so fidgety. She's pregnant. Will we ever have good timing? _He looked upward. "What did I do to make you hate me so much?" _It's bad enough you gave me hope of building something with her all those years ago, just to take it away. Now, here you go again. At least you're consistent. _Grabbing a washcloth, he turned on the water and held it under the faucet.

"_I'm late."_

"_It could just be stress."_

"_I might be pregnant."_

"_I'm sorry."_

_Over and over again, her words replayed in his head as he sat watching her pace in front of him. What bothered him most was her apology. What was there to be sorry about? They could possibly have made another human being together. He, or she, could very well be nestled in the safety of her womb right now. _

_Grabbing her arm, he pulled her down into his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, he fought the urge to place his hand on her stomach. As he tried to get her to relax, he pushed away the images of a little girl with her curls and her smile. "We probably should." He heard her say. And she was right. They should talk about what they would do if she was pregnant. But, was he ready to tell her that he thought they should get married right away so that they do this the right way? Was he ready to tell her that he hoped they were having a girl? No. He couldn't even bring himself to tell her how he truly felt about her. Besides, they didn't even know if she was actually pregnant. Above all else, he didn't know how she felt or what she wanted. If he were being honest with himself, he was afraid to find out. Afraid that she felt the complete opposite of what he felt. He took what he thought was a wave of relief flashing across her face when Tess informed them of the result and the way her hug seemed insincere as affirmation of just that. _

Turning the water off, he leaned against the counter for some time before shaking his head. "I can't do this." He muttered before tossing the washcloth onto the counter. Glancing at the test once more, he turned and opened the door, leaving the bathroom.

"So, will you join us for lunch?" Lucy asked as soon as he walked out.

"Um, actually, I can't. Diane called while I was in there. Need to change before I go meet her." He lied as he made his way toward the door. He couldn't even bring himself to look in Alicia's direction.

"Oh. Ok. See you later then?" Lucy asked, hopefully.

"Yeah. Sure." He said, opening the door and walking out.

/

Alicia stared at the closed door. "Damn. He couldn't get out of here fast enough." She heard Tess say behind her as she walked toward the bathroom.

"Yeah." She sighed. She leaned forward, elbow on her knee, chin in her hand and looked toward Lucy, who looked back sympathetically.

"Holy shit! Oh…Oh my God." They both turned to see Tess rush out of the bathroom. "Lucy. You're pregnant."

Alicia gasped, immediately standing and walking toward a grinning Tess to look at the test herself. "Wow." It was all she could say as she smiled at the thought of being around a baby again. Noticing the silence, they both turned back to Lucy, who hadn't moved an inch. Together, they both walked over to her.

Tess sat on the arm of the chair and brushed Lucy's hair to the side. "Are you ok, baby?" she asked quietly as Alicia sat on the coffee table directly in front of her.

"Ha." She shook her head. "Figures, you know? The one thing I've wanted for years, to share with the person I thought I would be spending the rest of my life with…" her voice cracked and Tess pulled her into a hug, kissing her head. "Of course it would happen now that I'm alone."

"Oh no, honey. But, you're not alone. We're all here for you." Alicia assured her as she grabbed her hands in her own. "All of us."

Lucy took a deep breath as tears fell down her cheeks. "And now…" she sobbed. "Now, I'm having a baby with Owen!" she whined.

Making eye contact with Tess, as hard as they tried, they could no longer contain it and burst into uncontrollable laughter. Soon enough, Lucy's sobs were swallowed by her own giggles.

Alicia stopped, shock registering on her face. "Oh…Oh…Owen." She stood. "Oh my God. Owen. He…He's having a baby. Owen." She started to pace. "He… Holy... He's…"

"…going to lose his shit." Lucy finished for her.

Stopping, she turned and looked her way. "Yeah. Yes. He will." She sighed.

"You have to be the one to tell him."

"What? Me? Why do I have to tell him? You're the one he knocked up."

"He's your brother. You know how to handle him."

"Ha! Well, guess what? That's just something you're going to have to learn to do."

"Alright, alright you two." Tess said as she stood between them. "Lucy, she's right. You have to tell him." She put her hand up to stop her protest and turned to Alicia. "And you need to stop acting like you won't be there when she does."

Taking a deep breath, Alicia nodded. "You're right." She looked at Lucy. "You do realize that you're definitely staying in Chicago now, right?"

Lucy looked at her sister, who nodded in agreement with Alicia. "She's right. No matter what, I don't think Owen would want you to leave. Besides, his family…the babys family…they're all there."

"But, what about you?"

Tess pondered her next words and glanced at Alicia, before turning back to her sister. "I'll move. To Chicago."

"What?!" they responded in unison.

"But, what about your job? Your apartment? Jason?" Lucy asked.

"What about them? You are having a baby, Lucy. I want to be there for…everything. All of that is replaceable." She sat on the sofa and looked over as Alicia did the same. "Didn't you just say you needed a divorce lawyer at your firm?" she asked her.

"I did. I mean, yes, I do. I'm sure my partner would love to bring you on."

"See?" she turned back to Lucy. "That settles it."

Lucy sat back in her chair, relaxing a bit. "I'm still hungry." She complained making them all laugh.

"If we order now, I can eat before I have to get ready and rush downstairs." Alicia told her.

* * *

"Elsbeth, thanks for meeting me out here. There's too many lawyers in the hotel."

"Did you hear that?" she asked him. "That bear just called me a dirty Jew."

Will glanced behind her to see someone dressed up in a bear costume. He shook his head slightly, confused and looked to her for an explanation. "What?"

"That bear. He said I was a dirty stinking Jew." She turned around. "Watch out, that bear is anti-Semitic!" she yelled.

Will grabbed her and gently turned her back around, pushing her away from the crowd. "Look, Elsbeth, about my situation?" he started to explain. "I've been subpoenaed by the Office of Public Integrity."

"Right." She started to pay attention.

"Hey! There you are." Lucy walked toward them. "I've been looking for you. Do you ever check your phone?"

He sighed, frustrated. "I must have never turned it back on after the seminar."

"You have such pretty hair." Elsbeth said as she scrutinized Lucy.

"Oh, um, thank you."

"Lucy, this is Elsbeth Tascioni, a fellow lawyer and friend. Elsbeth, this is Lucy Wilde, old friend of mine." He introduced them.

Lucy extended her hand to Elsbeth, who captured hers in a firm grip. "I am not a dirty stinking Jew." She whined.

"Wha…Um…Oh…Ok?" Lucy responded before throwing a questioning look to Will.

"Luce, we're actually in the middle of something…" he started.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Actually, I'm looking for Alicia."

"Mrs. Florrick?" Elsbeth asked.

"Yes. Do you know her?"

She smiled. "Of course. Oh I love her. She has such fabulous fashion sense, don't you think?"

Lucy furrowed her brows, before an amused smile spread across her face. "Um…yes…she does."

"What do you mean you're looking for her?" Will asked.

"Well, you saw what happened earlier. I haven't seen her since. Tess is dealing with a client right now, so I thought I'd come out and look to see if she'd stepped out for some air."

"Yeah, well, I haven't seen her. If you'll excuse us?"

Putting up her hands, she stepped away. "Sorry. I'll just…go for a walk. Maybe I'll run into her."

/

A bit later, after parting ways with Elsbeth, he decided to step into the first place he saw to finally grab something to eat. He followed the hostess as she led him to a table, stopping abruptly as he saw Alicia seated next to where she placed his menu, looking off into space. He looked around the crowded diner. "Is there any other…?" she walked away before he could even finish his question. He noticed Alicia look up at the sound of his voice. Avoiding eye contact with her, he sat as the waitress walked over. "Scotch, please."

"They only have beer." She muttered.

He glanced in her direction, before shifting his gaze to the waitress. "Beer."

Watching as she guzzled the last of her beer, he eyed her suspiciously.

"It's hard to get drunk on beer." She said quietly.

He hesitated before responding. "Should you even be drinking that?"

She looked over at him, confused. "What? I told you they only have beer."

Deciding it was none of his business, he shrugged. "Just gotta try harder."

Gesturing to the waitress, she placed the mug down on the table hard enough to make him look up. "She doesn't like me and I don't give a flying crap."

He chuckled, looking away as his order arrived. "Flying crap." He mocked her. When she didn't laugh, he looked at her again. "You're in a bad mood."

"I just had three hundred people walk out on me."

"Looked like four hundred." He tried to joke and immediately regretted it when she turned to glare at him. "Sorry." He whispered.

"You know, this day was going pretty well, despite…" she waved her hand around, looking away. When the waitress placed her beer in front of her, she looked at him again. "Lucy's pregnant." She told him, unable to keep from smiling. He looked back, confused again. "I'm going to be an aunt." She explained further, giggling.

"Wait. Lucy? Lucy…is pregnant?"

"Yes. By Owen." His eyes widened in shock. "Don't ask."

"That's…That's great. Right?" she nodded, still smiling. He laughed and shook his head. "I didn't even…" he sighed, causing her to furrow her eyebrows. "I thought it was you." He admitted.

She looked even more confused until he saw that she realized what he meant and raised her eyebrows in response. "Me?" she laughed. "You thought I was pregnant?" he nodded, avoiding eye contact with her as she laughed harder. "Oh, that's why you rushed out earlier! It all makes sense now."

He nodded, again. "Guilty as charged."

"Instead of just asking…" she shook her head at him. "When will we ever learn?" she asked, before they both burst into laughter. Her phone ringing interrupted them and she put her finger up signaling for him to stop so she can sound serious to whomever was on the other end, making him laugh more.

Outside, Lucy was watching them through the window.

"They're so pretty, aren't they?" she looked over to see Elsbeth next to her. She looked around them, searching for what she was referring to. "I'm sorry?"

"Mr. Gardner and Mrs. Florrick." She replied, as if it were obvious.

Slowly returning her gaze to them inside, she was struck with an idea. "Ms. Tascioni?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you help me with something?"

She turned her way finally, smiling. "Sure."

* * *

"Now? Uh…I've had a few…" she scrunched up her nose. "Never mind. I'll be right there." She said before ending the call.

"Meeting?"

She blinked her eyes a few times trying to focus her eyesight and sighed. "Yup. Hey, don't tell Lucy I told you. Let her tell you." Rising from her seat, she smiled as he rose to help her with her coat. "Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your dinner and beer." She smirked and turned to leave. Fully aware that he was watching her walk away, she put an extra sway in her hips and prayed she wouldn't stumble.

As she walked out into the brisk night air, she took a sharp intake of breath and shook her head, widening her eyes again trying to focus her vision. "Wow. That just hit me like a ton of bricks." She muttered.

"Alicia!"

She jumped at the sound of her name and quickly turned to see Lucy rushing toward her. "Hey! Oh good. Walk with me back to the hotel. Cary and Clarke are making me meet with someone right now and between us…I may have had a few too many beers."

"Oh dear." She offered her arm. "Here. Lean on me while we walk."

"I'm not that bad." She replied, still grabbing onto her arm. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"I was looking for you, actually." She stopped, putting her arm out to keep Alicia from walking into traffic. "Where have you been?"

"Drowning my sorrows. Where's Tess?"

"Waiting for us at the bar."

She giggled. "Can we go there instead of this meeting?"

"My other bosses would kill me." She laughed with her as she opened the door for her. "I'll stay with you, though. That way I can make sure you don't get pulled into anything else." Looking around the hotel lobby, she noticed Cary standing and waving at them. Pushing Alicia in his direction, she grabbed a handful of mints from the front desk on the way and handed them to her. "Suck on these." She did as she was told while Lucy helped her out of her coat. "Excuse me." She waved down a passing server. "Could you please bring some water?" He nodded and walked away.

"Alright," Cary started as she sat, gracefully. "I'll talk about firm culture." He looked from Clarke to her. "And Alicia?"

"I will handle women friendly policies and crapital structure."

"A what?!" Clarke asked as Lucy struggled to contain her laughter, making Cary smirk and chuckle.

"Capital structure?" she replied, raising her eyebrows at Clarke.

"You said crapital."

She looked to Cary and back. "No, I didn't."

"Mrs. Florrick, are…are you inebriated?"

She hesitated, looking around at them before answering, quietly. "I'll be fine."

"Oh dear God." Clarke exclaimed.

Lucy and Cary could no longer hold it in and burst into laughter.

* * *

"If he comes after you, we'll use it." Elsbeth told him, proud of herself.

"But, he's not coming after me?" Will asked her.

"I don't think so. Not with what he has."

"You're a lifesaver." He smiled as he pulled her into a hug.

"No, no, no." she laughed, uncomfortably. "I'm just…um…"

"No, really, Elsbeth. I owe you."

"Oh!" her face lit up as she looked up at him. "How about a drink? To celebrate."

Before he could respond, she had already taken off toward the hotel bar. Chuckling, he shook his head and followed. Immediately upon entering the bar, he saw Tess sitting alone in a booth, phone in her hand. "I'm just going to…" he looked around for Elsbeth. _Where the hell did she go?_ Walking over to join Tess, he smiled when she looked up and saw him approaching.

'Hey! I was hoping I'd get to see you again before I leave. Sit. Join me." She said, gesturing to the spot across from her.

"We're not leaving for another day."

"Actually, I think Alicia and Lucy have decided to leave tomorrow." She replied hesitantly, before continuing. "Thanks to one of my most annoying clients ever, I have to spend the day in court tomorrow dealing with the shitstorm they've created." She complained before downing the rest of her martini.

"You sound like you need another one of those." He said as he waved down one of the servers and placed an order with her. "So how's life in the Big Apple?"

"Ugh. It blows. I work too much. I play too little." She waved her hand around dramatically. "Something Lucy accused me of doing while she was here and has gotten worse since she left." She stopped when their drinks arrived. "Don't you dare tell her I said that." She threatened him.

Chuckling, he put his hands up defensively. "Scout's honor."

She laughed and sipped her drink. "What about you? Why the hell haven't you snatched Alicia up from that asshole, yet? It's probably your fault she ended up with him anyway, you know? You were always too cool to show how you really felt." She said in a mocking voice.

He stared back at her, mouth agape in shock and pointed at her. "That's where Lucy gets it from."

She laughed loudly in response. "Remember when we all took Lucy to see E.T. and Alicia sobbed throughout the entire thing?"

"Oh my God, yes. She was a wreck. Poor Lucy cried even more because of her."

"That's when I realized how you felt about her." He looked at her, confused. "You held her and soothed her. Didn't tease her, like I did. I mean, the look you had on your face, it was like you wanted to move heaven and earth just to make her feel better."

He chuckled at the memory. "I don't even remember much of the movie because I was more worried about her."

"But you never told her how you felt." She sipped her martini. "You're so stupid."

"To think, I almost thought I missed you." He laughed when she threw a pretzel at him.

/

"Ugh. That went well." Alicia complained. "I really need a drink now."

"Come on. Tess is waiting." Lucy said as she grabbed her arm and started to walk toward the bar.

"Did I really say crapital structure?"

"Yes, you did." She giggled. "I thought Mr. Hayden was going to have a heart attack." Alicia started laughing next to her. "Did you see his eyes practically pop out of his head?"

"But then he went and said it the same way during the meeting!"

"I know!" They entered the bar, laughing loudly until Alicia stopped walking. Lucy looked at her and followed her gaze just as Tess waved them over. "Oh, looks like we have company."

"Seems so."

Tess and Will slid further into the booth as they made their way over. Lucy rushed to cut Alicia off and slid in next to her sister, leaving her with sitting next to Will as her only option.

"It's about time you two get here." Tess complained. "Thankfully, I had Will to keep me company."

"More like torture and insult, but sure." He commented, making her laugh. "What can I get you guys to drink?" he asked as he waved over their server again.

"I'll have what she's having." Alicia pointed to Tess.

"I'm good. Someone needs to make sure you all make it out of here in one piece." Lucy smirked.

After their server walked away, he glanced in Alicia's direction. "How did your meeting go?"

Lucy snorted, making Alicia start to laugh again. "It went swimmingly." She told him between giggles.

"Are you guys going to let us in on what is so damn funny?" Tess looked at them.

"She's had a bit too much to drink."

"Ahh, see? You can get drunk on beer." Will said as he chuckled before drinking the rest of his scotch, just as their drinks arrived.

"Alicia! Are you drunk?" Tess asked, laughing. "I love drunk Alicia!" she clapped.

"Hey! In my defense, I deserve to drink as much as I want to after what I went through today."

"Aww, you do. Drink up." Lucy said as she pushed her glass closer.

"We were actually just reminiscing. Do you two remember that time-" her phone vibrating on the table in front of her, cut Tess off. She rolled her eyes, when she looked at it. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Jason?" Lucy asked.

"I meant to ask about that earlier." Alicia said. "Who is Jason?"

"No one important.." she started to gather her things. "I swear, I have the client from hell." She gestured for Lucy to let her out.

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah, sweetie. I'm sorry. Hey, soon I'll be bothering you day and night, don't worry." She turned to hug Alicia goodbye and blew a kiss to Will. "I'll see you guys soon."

"I'll come and make sure you get in a cab safely." Lucy told her. "I'll be right back guys."

They were left alone, in awkward silence.

"So, you're leaving tomorrow?"

"Yes. Leaving Cary and Clarke to handle things here while we go and break the news to Owen."

"I see." He nodded. "Sounds like fun."

"Ha! Sure, that's a perfect description." She replied, sarcastically.

"You know…" he started. "When I saw that test today, it brought me back to when we had our own scare."

"Me, too." She leaned on the table, looking at him. "I never told you this, and I'm fully aware that it's pointless to now, but…I wanted that test to be positive. I wanted to be pregnant with your child."

He stared at her and swallowed hard. "I wanted it, too."

She nodded and finished her drink before looking back into his eyes.

/

"Are you sure about moving to Chicago?"

"Positive." She assured her. "I've been trying to figure things out since you left and well, fate figured it out for me. You're all I have and now, you need me." She said as she hugged her. "Besides, I miss my little sister."

"I miss you, too. When do you think you'll be out there?"

"Within the next couple of weeks, for sure. Start looking for apartments." She looked to see the concierge holding the car door open for her. "I love you." She said before kissing her forehead.

"Love you, too." She waved and watched as she climbed into the taxi and it pulled away from the curb before turning to go back into the hotel. Walking back into the bar, she noted that the booth previously occupied by them now stood empty. Looking around, she saw Elsbeth standing by the piano with Clarke. "Ms. Tascioni?"

"Oh, hello. I did what you asked." She said, excitedly.

"I know, thank you. I was wondering…" she lowered her voice. "Do you know where they are?"

"No. Last time I saw them, they were with you."

"Hmm..."

* * *

"I probably should have waited for Lucy." She said quietly as she looked up at the panel of numbers above the elevator they awaited. _Is it even moving?_

"We could go back, if you want." He suggested.

She shook her head. "No. It's ok. I'll text her when I get upstairs." He nodded as he stepped aside so she could enter the elevator before him. As the elevator crept upward, she glanced at him and was immediately overcome with memories.

"_Will…" she whispered. "Maybe…" As if he could sense the conflict raging inside of her, he gently caressed her hand, stilling any apprehension that threatened to keep her from following through with their exceptional moment. He turned to her and gently caressed her cheek before leaning in to kiss her softly putting her even more at ease, making her smile._

_She watched as he struggled with the keycard in the door, taking in every single one of his features. She wanted to run her hands through his hair. Lightly trace the muscles in his chest and abs with her fingertips. Her thoughts caused a stirring deep within her that she hadn't felt in far too long. She smirked as he frantically tried the key card, repeatedly. It calmed her to know he was just as nervous as she was. _

_Sighing he looked up. "Come on… Please God. One hour, that's all we want."_

"_It's ok." She assured him._

_She reached out, taking hold of his arm when he started to walk away, intent on getting a new keycard. Inhaling deeply at the effect the contact had on her. Tenderly, she took the card from his hand and on the first try, unlocked the door. Tossing a knowing look in his direction, she arched an eyebrow and walked in, swinging the door open so that he'd follow. _

"_Having second thoughts?" _

_She quickly turned her head in his direction. "What? No." she smiled to reassure him. _

_He made his way over to her and began to unbutton her jacket, fumbling with the buttons. Placing her hands on his, she tried helping him. His gaze shifted upward and met hers; she sensed he needed a little more convincing that she wanted this. Leaning in, she kissed him tenderly, feeling him relax. Surprising her, he quickly turned their kiss passionate and she moaned softly. Gently he turned her around and removed her jacket. Moving her hair to the side, he placed soft kisses on her neck. Slowly, he unzipped her dress, leaving a trail of kisses down her back. He helped her step out of it, and retraced his path, running his hands along her calves, her thighs, her hips, wrapping his arms around her body. She turned in his embrace, breathing heavily and began unbuttoning his shirt._

_DING._

The elevator signaled her floor. Will cleared his throat next to her. Chuckling lightly, she shook her head. "What is it with us and elevators?" she asked.

"You, too?" he smirked as they exited the elevator together. Quietly, they walked to her suite until she stopped in front of her door. "Would you like me to go back downstairs and get Lucy for you?" he asked as she rummaged in her purse looking for her key.

She shook her head as she continued her search. "Aha!" she held up the key triumphantly and he laughed at her. "Thank you for making sure I made it up here safely. Lucy will be happy." She giggled and he shrugged as if to say it was no problem.

"I should go." He said, not making any move to do so.

She cocked her head to side and smiled at him as she tugged on his tie, pulling him to her, meeting his lips with hers. Instinctively, his hands immediately found their way to her waist pulling her to him and deepening their kiss.

_DING._

"I'm so sorry. I should have been paying more attention."

"It's ok, Ms. Tascioni. Really." Lucy assured her for the third time as they exited the elevator and walked down the hall. "You're sure you don't know which floor Will's room is on?"

"If I just would have stopped trying to sing-Oh!" she exclaimed when they rounded the corner. Lucy quickly shushed her and pushed her back the way they had just come. "Was that…?"

"Shhh!"

They stood in silence. "Do you think they saw us?"

He smiled as their lips parted. "I've been wanting to do that all day." She said. "Good night, Will."

They peeked around the corner in time to see Alicia enter her suite. Jumping back when Will started to walk in their direction, Elsbeth pressed the button for the elevator. "What is wrong with you? That'll take too long!" Grabbing her arm, Lucy pulled her into the stairwell with her; quietly closing the door behind them and just in time to see Will pass by through the small window.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she pulled it out.

_Hey, I'm upstairs. Come up when you're done, I'm ordering Chinese._

She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. "What the hell was that?" she thought out loud.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So sorry for the long wait for an update! Life happened. Hope you guys are still with me! One of the flashbacks is dedicated to my lovely Talita, who used Will's puppy dog eyes on me, so I gave in.**

* * *

Alicia fluffed the pillows on the sofa for the third time before looking around for something else to clean or arrange. Lucy sat in the armchair; legs crossed under her, her gaze following her every move. They had arrived back from New York earlier that morning and were now awaiting the arrival of Owen, who had promised to head over immediately after his last class. Picking up a remote, Alicia tried to turn on the TV and the stereo blared instead, startling both of them. Quickly turning it off, she looked in her direction. "Oops."

She shook her head and chuckled at her. "Can you sit down, please? You're not helping me relax."

"I'm sorry." She said as she sat on the edge of the sofa.

Grasping for something to keep her occupied, she decided to try to get some answers. "So… What's going on between you and Will?" Alicia looked her way with a confused look. "Don't play dumb. It doesn't look good on you." When she looked away, not offering an answer, she continued. "I saw you two last night, outside of our suite." Her head snapped in her direction. That got her attention.

"Wh…what…?" she shook her head. "No." she stood from the sofa. "Are you hungry? You must be."

"You just fed me an hour ago, Alicia. I'm good. I promise." Before she could respond, the doorbell rang. Lucy looked at the clock on the wall. "It's too early for that to be Owen."

"Yup." Alicia nodded once and took a deep breath before turning to walk to her door. Curious, Lucy rose and followed her. She watched as Alicia stopped in front of the door, took another deep breath, reached for the doorknob and turned, pulling the door open. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was standing on the other side. "Hi, Mom."

Veronica removed her sunglasses as she walked in and hugged Alicia. "What's wrong?"

"Nice to see you too."

"You called me. You never do. Are the kids ok?" she embraced Lucy in a hug. "How are you, sweetie?"

"The kids are fine. I just…" she sighed and looked at Lucy, before turning back to her mother. "Come on, I'll make us some coffee." Veronica led the way to the kitchen and Lucy stepped in Alicia's way.

"You called your mother?" she hissed at her.

"I know. I can't believe I did, either. But, I honestly don't know how Owen is going to react. I…we…need all the help we can get."

"What are you two going on about over there?" Veronica called from the kitchen. Alicia walked into the kitchen and to the coffeemaker with Lucy close behind her. "Can I help with anything?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes at them.

"No, mom. I've got it." She looked at Lucy. "Go sit down. I can handle this."

Veronica watched as Lucy sat next to her at the island before turning back to Alicia. "One of you want to tell me what's going on?"

She hit start on the machine before taking a deep breath and turning around. "Lucy…" she glanced at her before returning her gaze to her mother. "…is pregnant."

"Well, honey, that's great." She looked from Lucy back to Alicia, confused. "Why do you need my help?"

"It's Owen's baby." Alicia added.

Veronica sat motionless and blinked a few times before nodding. "I see." She immediately shook her head. "No, I don't. Was this planned?" Lucy shook her head. "So, I mean, how?"

"You don't want details, Mom." Alicia assured her.

"And how is Owen taking this news?" Neither of the women responded. "Aha, you need help breaking the news to him." They both nodded. "Is he on his way over here?" They both looked at the clock, then back to her and nodded again. She stood up and started opening and closing the cabinets in search of something.

"Mom, what are you looking for?"

"Alcohol, Alicia. I know you have some in here somewhere." She continued her search.

Lucy suppressed a giggle when she rolled her eyes behind her back. "I don't think that's a good idea right now. I need you sober for this."

"It's not for me. It's for your brother."

"Oh. Well, that's how they got themselves in this situation to begin with, so maybe that's not such a good idea." Alicia mumbled.

"Hey!"

"Am I lying?"

"Still…low blow."

The doorbell rang, startling all of them. Veronica closed the cabinet she was looking in and turned to face them. "Well, kids, it's showtime."

Alicia rushed over to let him in. "Hey!" she exclaimed as she hugged him. "How are you? How was your day?"

He eyed her suspiciously. "What's wrong with you? You're too…"

"Happy to see you? Why is that alarming?" she said as he followed her back into the kitchen.

"Why are you home early?" He stopped in the doorway and took in the scene.

"Hi, darling." Veronica patted the chair she had previously occupied. "Have a seat."

"Is this some sort of intervention for something that I'm not aware I'm addicted to?" he joked as he slowly walked over and sat in the chair.

Alicia spoke up first. "Actually, Lucy has something she would like to say."

Lucy quickly looked in her direction, panic in her eyes. Recovering quickly, she smirked and looked at Owen and Veronica. "You guys are just in time. Alicia was just about to tell me what is going on between her and Will. Right?" She looked at her, smiling. Alicia glared back.

"Wait…" Veronica shook her head. "What?"

"Don't listen to her. There is nothing to tell." She threw a warning glance at Lucy.

"Oh. So that was not you kissing him last night? Outside of our suite?"

Immediately, all eyes were on her. "I think we should talk about that. I want to hear about that. Don't you want to hear about that, Mom?" Owen pushed.

Veronica poured a glass of wine for herself and one for Alicia. "Ok, now. Spill, honey."

Before she could offer any protest, she heard her cell phone ringing and rushed to the other room to answer it, but failed to retrieve her phone in time. She sighed when she saw the missed call was from Will. "Dammit." She muttered.

"Everything ok?" Owen asked.

Debating whether to retreat to the privacy of her bedroom to return the call, she waved her hand behind her. "Fine." She replied, absentmindedly. Deciding to take care of the task at hand, she moved to place the phone in her back pocket until she heard the notification of an incoming text.

_Hey. Just wanted to make sure you arrived home safely and see how everything went._

She smiled and typed a quick reply.

_Home safe. About to deliver news to Owen._

As she hit send, another text came through.

_I'm in that Build-A-Bear shop. Remember the one? When I made you the little husky pup dressed in jeans and a hoodie? You probably don't have him anymore._

She glanced toward her bedroom.

"_I like this."_

_She peered at him over the rim of her mug as she sipped her coffee. "The chocolate cake?"_

"_No. Being here…with you. No one is watching our every move because they could care less who we…well, who you are." Her eyes widened. "Except me, of course. I care. I care a whole lot." He quickly recovered._

_Smiling, she fed him a forkful of cake. "This is nice. Lucky we're having such a difficult time with Mr. Ashbaugh, requiring us to stay longer." Peering behind her, she saw his lips form into a boyish grin and glanced out of the window behind her to find the reason. She turned back to him, confused. "What are you grinning at?"_

_Having paid the bill already, he stood and held his hand out for her. "Come on."_

"_What? Where are we going?" she asked as she complied with his request, grabbing his hand and following him. _

"_I want to get you something."_

"_Oh, Will. Honey, no."_

"_It's not a big deal." He said as they approached the destination he led them to. He stopped and looked at her. _

_She looked up at the sign, before looking at him. "You want to build me a bear?"_

_Pulling her into the store, he maneuvered them around the group of children just inside of the entrance. "Actually, since you always tell me that I have puppy dog eyes that I use to get my way with you… Which I still argue that I have no idea what you are talking about…" he feigned innocence, making her giggle. "I thought I would build you a puppy." He looked at her and smiled. "Want to pick it out?"_

"_Surprise me."_

"_Would you like to dress him?"_

"_I'd like to undress you." She said so only he could hear._

_His eyes widened. "Leesh!" he looked around them. "There are kids around." He shook his head at her, smiling. "I'll pick out the pup, you pick out his clothes."_

"_Hey! Why does it have to be a he?"_

"_Because…he'll keep you company at night, when I can't." he said softly. _

_She looked down, smiling. Remembering that they were surrounded by children, she bit her lip to fight the urge to kiss him. She looked up at him and melted under his gaze. "In that case, we have to dress him in my favorite look on you. Well, my second favorite, since the first doesn't require clothing."_

"Alicia!"

She spun around to see them all in the doorway, staring at her. She shook her head. "Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm coming."

She glanced down at her phone and typed another quick reply.

_Of course I remember. What are you even doing in there? _

Finally placing her phone in her pocket, she once again joined them in the kitchen. "Where were we?"

"You were about to tell us…" Owen started.

"That Lucy is pregnant." She blurted out, deciding to rip off the band-aid for Lucy.

Owen immediately started to laugh loudly until he glanced around him and saw that they were not. "Oh. Oh!" he turned to Lucy. "You really are? What? How?" he shook his head. "Scratch that. Who…" his voice trailed off when he noticed the look on Lucy's face, her eyes willing him to see what they were trying to tell him. "Whoa." He jumped up from his seat, hands up and backed away from them, shaking his head. "No no no no." They all followed him into the living room. "There is no way in hell." He finally looked at Lucy again. "Please tell me you're kidding." He pleaded with her.

She shook her head and looked away. "I'm sorry."

Slowly, he lowered himself onto the sofa and took a deep breath. "And you're sure?"

"I was there when she took the test." Alicia quietly answered.

"No." He shook his head. "I mean, you're sure that I…am the father?" He asked Lucy.

"Owen! How could you ask that?" Alicia yelled at him.

"It's ok." Lucy told her. "I think I deserve that."

"No, no. She's right. I'm sorry, Luce. It's just…" He struggled to find the right words. "I can't… Me? A father? How am I supposed to take care of a baby? I can hardly take care of myself."

She shrugged. "You don't have to." He looked at her, confused. "I mean… We both know this was not in your plans, or mine for that matter. Don't feel like you have to be a part of it."

"What? Lucy…" Alicia started to speak before her mother interrupted.

"Like hell!" They all turned to face her. "I don't know the details, nor do I need to, but I do know that you did not make that baby alone." She said to Lucy before turning to Owen. "You will be a part of that child's life and you will help her in any way she needs. We all will."

"Mom, this is really something they should figure out-"

"No, sis. Mom is right." He took in the look of shock on her face. "Did I just say that?" he whispered to her and she smirked in response. Shaking his head, he stood from the sofa. "Look. I'm gonna go and…do stuff." He looked at Lucy. "I'll call you…later…or something."

"Sure."

They watched as he made his way to the door. "Don't worry, honey. You…and my grandchild…will not be alone. I promise. No matter what my children may say or think, I do have a heart."

"Mom…"

She waved Alicia off. "I'll go talk to Owen. Maybe I'll come over tomorrow and make dinner for everyone." She said as she followed him out.

She sighed as she watched her go. "She confuses me sometimes." She said quietly before turning back to Lucy when she heard the door close.

"That went well." She muttered.

"He just needs time. You both do." She assured her as she hugged her. "And I…need a nap." She said as she pulled away and walked to her bedroom. "You should do the same." She closed the door behind her, leaning against it with her eyes closed. Remembering that she heard her phone notify her of an incoming message earlier, she pulled it out of her pocket.

_I thought I would get something for Lucy's baby._

Instead of responding, she decided to call him. As the phone rang on the other end, she walked over to her closet and entered it, turning on the light. On her right was what she came in search of. Sitting propped up on the shelf in her immediate eye line was the stuffed puppy. She picked it up and smiled as she fixed his ear, hugging him close to her.

* * *

"Thank you. Have a nice night." Will closed the door and quickly moved the cart of food that room service had just delivered out of his way as he rushed to get to his ringing cell phone. Smiling when he saw who was calling, he answered. "Hey."

"Hey, I was just about to hang up."

"Sorry, I was…I mean…I had-"

"Oh. Oh God. You're…busy. I should not have called. I'm-"

"What? No." Realizing that she misunderstood, he quickly reassured her. "I'm not busy. I ordered room service and they were delivering it when you called." She remained silent on the other end, but he knew she was still there. "Leesh…"

"Hmm?" he heard her sigh, softly. "I'm here."

He knew her well enough to hear the jealousy in her voice. Even though he knew it was wrong, the idea of her being jealous made him smile even more. "How did it go with Owen?"

"Well…" he could hear the hesitation in her voice. "I don't know, actually. I mean, he freaked out. Lucy tried to give him an out but my mom immediately shot that to hell."

"Your mom?"

"Yes. I called her. I wasn't sure how he would react."

"You called your mom? You? For help?" he teased as he tried to contain his laughter.

"Hey!"

"I'm sorry." He chuckled. "I'm sorry. Go on."

"He left and my mom went with him. I honestly don't know what's going to happen." She admitted.

"He just needs time." He said softly.

"I know. That's what I told Lucy."

"How is she?"

"She's ok. I just told her to go take a nap. Which is what I plan to do myself."

"Oh. Should I let you go?" he offered.

"So, what did you get Lucy? For the baby?"

He smiled at her obvious attempt to prolong their conversation. "I made her a bunch of animals. Remember that first birthday of hers after their parents died? When Tess was upset because she didn't know what to do because every year they took Lucy to the zoo and safari?"

"You suggested we all take her together that year and then proceeded to act out all of the animals for her to lift her spirits." They both laughed at the memory. "You did it for the entire day!"

"Hey…it worked, didn't it?"

"It did. I'm sure she'll love them." She said softly.

He leaned back against the headboard. "That wasn't the only memory that came to mind today."

"I know. My puppy."

"No. I mean…yeah. But, there was another one." He cleared his throat. "Um…I was walking around and came across these posters that were promoting…some…American Revolution special…"

"Oh." He couldn't see her, but he knew she was smiling. "I see. Did you have your fantasies again?"

He chuckled in response. "You never did get to dress up for me."

"Well, not for that particular fantasy. But, there were others…"

Grinning widely, he nodded. "Yes. Yes, there were." He cleared his throat again. "What are you doing?"

"Lying in my bed, alone."

"See? That's why you should have kept the puppy." He heard her giggle. God, he loved that sound. "Just so you know, it took every single ounce of restraint and even some I didn't know I possessed, to keep from following you into your suite last night."

"Is that so?"

"Mmhmm."

"Well, maybe you should have. Now, you're just stuck with your fantasies." She teased, seductively.

"You're devious and instead of letting you torture me further, I'll let you go take your nap now. Maybe, I'll sneak into your dreams."

"Ha! Wouldn't be the first time." She mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Enjoy your American Revolution fantasies."

Shaking his head, he smiled as he placed the phone on the bed next to him.

"_Demure, huh?"_

"_Change of plans."_

"_Hmm…I think I'm having American…" he made eye contact with her. "… Revolution fantasies…that turn me on."_

"_Mmm… Well, I could dress up." She suggested, with a hint of a smile._

"_I want to…take you now." He said as he handed her a folder._

"_Well, that might prove difficult." She said as she glanced behind him, outside of his office before sitting down on the arm of his brown leather chair._

"_In my bathroom."_

"_Mmhmm." She glanced at her watch. "We have ten minutes."_

"_I'll go first." He started toward the bathroom. _

_She looked up to see Diane glance in at them before going into her office. "Oh, Will. We're being watched."_

_He abruptly turned to his bookcase. "Now, where is that book?" He plucked one off of the shelf and leafed through the pages. "To be continued."_

"_Mmhmm."_

_He turned in time to see Diane leave her office again, holding up her keys to show why she had come back. He smiled and waved. "Well, would you look at that."_

_Seeing her leave as well, she looked at her watch again. "We don't have ten minutes anymore."_

_Shrugging, he placed the book back on the shelf and turned back to his bathroom. "They can't start without us." He said before closing the door behind him. _

_He removed his jacket while he waited. When she entered, he wasted zero time and immediately pulled her to him, taking her mouth in his. He unbuttoned her jacket and ran his hands along her waist and thighs. "Do you even realize what it does to me when you get all fired up like that?" he said against her lips. _

_She moaned as he sucked on her neck, caressing her with his tongue. "I do now." She sought out his mouth again as she undid his pants. Roughly, he pulled her skirt up and looked at her questioningly when he realized she was not wearing underwear. "I told you we had less than ten minutes."_

"_I'm going to explode." He groaned._

"_No. Not yet." She whispered as she gave a final tug on his pants and they fell around his ankles, followed by his boxers. She giggled when he placed his hands on the back of her thighs and lifted her from the ground. Instinctively, she wrapped her legs around him. He moved them so that her back was against the wall. He entered her and quickly found a rhythm making her gasp and arch her body into his. _

_The faster he moved, the louder her moans became. "Shhh. They're going to hear you." Seeing the look in her eyes, he knew his plea fell on deaf ears. He felt her tighten around him and knew it wouldn't be much longer. "Bite down." He tightened his hold on her thighs and quickened his pace, causing her to moan his name, making him groan in response. "Leesh…" he panted. "My shoulder…bite down." Doing as she was told, she bit down, his shoulder muffling her scream as she gave in to her orgasm, taking him with her. _

The tone notifying him of an incoming text pulled him back to the present. Sighing, he picked it up and saw that it was a text from Alicia containing a picture of her with a message.

_I still have him and he still keeps me company._

His brows furrowed in confusion until he opened the photo to its full size and saw the puppy next to her. Grinning broadly, he replied.

_I'm kicking him out…soon._

* * *

Lucy made her way to the courthouse when she spotted Will on line at the coffee cart outside and walked over, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Hey you!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Florrick/Agos have a case in court today?"

"Meeting a friend." She replied vaguely.

"Want something?" he asked before placing his order.

"Sure. Coffee. Milk, no sugar."

He paid and handed her the coffee. "Should you be drinking that?" he winced, catching his mistake too late and looked away as they walked into the courthouse.

"So, you know."

"Know what?"

She stopped walking and turned to him. "Did Alicia tell you?"

Pulling her to the side, "I wasn't supposed to say anything. I'm sorry."

She shrugged. "It's ok. I'm not surprised she did."

"For what it's worth, I think it's cute." She threw a sideways glance his way. "You're having a little Alicia."

"I'm pregnant by Owen, not Alicia."

He choked on his coffee and laughed. "You're having a little Alicia." He repeated.

She tilted her head. "Did she tell you before or after you kissed her?"

He looked at her confused. "What?"

"In New York? Outside of our suite?" she leaned in and whispered. "I saw you kiss her."

"Hey. She kissed me."

"Oh yes, it definitely looked as if you were forced into it." She teased. "I'm confused, though." He eyed her. "Why didn't you follow her in?"

Sighing, he shook his head. "It's complicated."

"Oh, whatever. Have you spoken to her since then?" He nodded. "You still love her." It was a statement, not a question. "You should tell her."

He sighed deeply. "She knows."

"Maybe she does, but she's having a rough day." He looked at her. "Call her."

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he opened them again and shook his head when he saw her staring at him. "Hold this." He handed her his coffee and reached into his pocket for his phone. He laughed when she let out a little squeal of delight and lightly jumped up and down in front of him. "Voicemail." He said as he lowered the phone.

"Leave a message!"

Sighing, he put the phone to his ear again. "Alicia…"

"Mr. Gardner, we're about ready in here." They turn to see the judge behind them.

"Hold…hold on, your honor." He sighs when he doesn't budge. "I'll call you back." He says into the phone before ending the call.

"Ugh. Man." Lucy complained. "You better call her back."

"I will. I promise." He said as he rushed into the courtroom.

"Is that for me?" she turned to face Kalinda.

Looking down, she saw she still held Will's coffee, along with her own. "No." she looked back up at the woman in front of her. "Your boyfriend should probably get you one." Kalinda stared at her, obviously confused by her comment. "Were you ever going to tell me that you are seeing my boss? Or were you just waiting for me to slip some info by mistake during one of our late night meetings."

"Lucy…" she moved closer to her. "Cary is not my boyfriend."

"Really? I don't think he feels the same way." She swayed a little as a light dizzy spell hit her.

Kalinda quickly grabbed her arm. "Are you alright?"

She pulled her arm from her grasp. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm fine." She repeated. "Don't touch me."

"We need to talk."

"There isn't anything to talk about. We had sex, you have a boyfriend. Now, I'm going to take this coffee in to Will and go back to work. Bye, Kalinda." When she turned and walked away was when they heard the first gunshot.

* * *

She reached in to her purse and glanced at her phone seeing that she had a missed call from Will about thirty minutes ago. Rising from her seat, she walked off to the side to check her messages and was met by Eli.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at her. "You have to introduce Peter."

"I know, Eli. I'm checking my messages. That guy will probably be up there telling his bad jokes for awhile longer."

She turned away from his glare when she heard Will's voice, hiding her smile from him. When the message ended, she turned back, looking at her phone confused. Calling back, her call went straight to voicemail, which she knew meant he was in court.

"Is everything ok?" Eli asked.

"Hmm..?" she looked up. "Oh. Yes." Before she could make her way back to her seat, her phone started vibrating in her hand. She looked at the screen hoping to see that it was Will. _Tess._

"Hello?"

"Alicia! Thank God! Please tell me Lucy is with you?" she blurted out.

"What?" She shook her head. "Tess, calm down."

"Is Lucy with you?"

"No. I'm at an event for Peter. Tess…what's going on?"

"There was a shooting at a courthouse over there. My assistant brought it to my attention because she knows Lucy is there." She paused and Alicia could hear her crying. "I tried calling her and she's not answering." She told her quietly.

"There…there was a…what?"

"I'm getting on the next flight out." She said before hanging up.

Going through her contacts, she called Lucy. No answer. Her next call was to Cary.

"Where's Lucy?" she demanded when he answered.

His sigh sent shivers down her spine. "Last I heard, she was heading to the courthouse."

Immediately ending the call, she tried her phone again. No answer. Shaking, she took a deep breath and tried Will again. Straight to voicemail.

"Alicia?" she faintly heard Eli's concerned voice behind her.

"I have to go."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thank you so much for your passionate reviews! I loved every single one and they all made me giggle. Warms my heart to see so many invested in this story. Special thanks to _marysunshine81 _for helping with Diane!**

* * *

"Alicia?" she faintly heard Eli's concerned voice behind her.

"I have to go."

"What? What do you mean?" She stood, motionless with her back to him. Taking one step toward her, "Is everything ok?" he whispered, hesitantly.

Slowly, she turned to face him, tears in her eyes and worry etched on her face. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I have to go." She repeated while putting her hand up to stop him when he took another step toward her. "There's been a…a shooting…at the courthouse. Lucy and…" She shook her head and moved past him to retrieve her coat and bag.

He watched her and finally spoke before she reached the door. "Alicia." She turned slightly and he tried to swallow his nerves. "Is Will there, too?"

"Eli…" she said in a warning tone.

He bowed his head briefly, before raising his eyes to meet hers again. "Will you be ok by yourself? Or should I drive you?"

She exhales and smiled faintly, appreciating the gesture but shook her head. "You have to stay with Peter." She replied quietly before turning to walk away. Stopping abruptly, she took a few steps back toward him. "Thank you, Eli." She rushed out before he could respond.

As she quickly made her way to her car, she tried calling both Lucy and Will again. Still unable to reach either of them. Opening her car door, she quickly tossed her bag onto the passenger seat and started the car. Before pulling off, she sent separate texts to both asking them to call her immediately. Revving her engine, she pulled out of her spot and took off for the courthouse. As she was stopped at a red light, she checked her phone. No calls or messages. She tried both again, to no avail. Focusing once again on the road in front of her, she took a few deep breaths to quell the tears that threatened to escape. Her frustration growing as she continued to get stuck at every red light.

"Oh you have got to be freaking kidding me!" she yelled out before hitting her steering wheel in frustration. She stood stopped at a railroad crossing. She leaned forward to see how far the train was and could not see one coming from either direction. Noticing that the barriers were not yet lowered, she considered speeding across the tracks, thinking that Peter could get her out of whatever mess she ended up in legally. She thought better of it and sat back resigned. Checking her phone again, she frowned at the empty screen of notifications. "Come on, Will. You know how much I worry when you don't return my calls."

"_Are you going to tell me why you're upset or are you just going to stay curled up on the other side of the sofa there, pouting?"_

_She looked his way, glaring at him and then turned her attention back to the textbook in her hand. "I'm not pouting." She whispered. _

"_Leesh…"_

"_I tried calling you all day."_

"_I wasn't home."_

"_Thank you, Captain Obvious." She took a sip of her beer. "I left you messages to call me."_

"_I haven't been home. I came straight here after I dropped Lucy off." She looked his way, confused. "You don't remember, do you?"_

"_Remember what?"_

"_Today was the father/daughter picnic at her school. The one I promised to take her to."_

_She sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head at herself. "I did forget."_

"_Is that why you're upset?"_

"_I'm not upset." She raised her gaze to meet his. "I was worried." She shrugged._

_Smiling, he quickly scooted across the sofa to her. "You were worried? About me? Why?" He tugged the book from her grasp and tossed it on the floor, never taking his eyes off of her._

"_I hadn't heard from you all day." She replied as she looked away from his intense gaze._

_He leaned in, nuzzling her neck before placing a soft kiss in the spot right below her ear. "You're adorable." He whispered in her ear._

_Tilting her head, she looked into his eyes. "Adorable? Really?"_

"_Yes, really." _

"_Shut up." She playfully pushed him away._

_He gently pulled her legs out from under her and she followed his lead, shimmying down so that she now lay under him. Hovering over her, he kissed her several times making her giggle. "But, you know what's the most adorable?" she looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "When you pout. It does things to me." He said before lowering his mouth to her neck again. _

"_Ow! Did you just bite me?"_

"_I told you it does things to me." He chuckled before biting her again._

She leans forward searching for the train whose horn she'd just heard the faraway wail of. Still no sign.

"_Is this the kind of crap I'm going to have to deal with?" Lucy gestured toward the TV with the remote. _

_She laughed when she saw what she referred to. "Zach loved Thomas the Tank Engine."_

"_Ugh! Talking trains? So stupid." She muttered as she hit the power button on the remote._

"_Someone is cranky this morning." She observed as she walked by her and into the kitchen. _

"_Sorry." She said as she followed her and sat at the island, checking emails on her iPad. _

"_It's ok. Have you eaten?"_

_She shook her head. "Please don't mention food." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _

"_Ah, morning sickness." She nodded, knowingly. She poured herself a mug of coffee and sat across from her. _

_She groaned. "I have to go see another apartment later." _

"_I can go with you. I don't have to be in court today." She winced. "Dammit. I have that luncheon with Peter."_

_Pushing the iPad to the side, she leaned forward to place her head on her arms. "I don't want to look anymore. Tess can do it when she gets here." She grumbled._

_She sighed and smiled sympathetically at her. "I'm going to miss you when you move out."_

_Lucy pouted. "Me, too. But, I'll still be working with you. And I'll come bother you all the time." She perked up, her eyes brightening. "Hey! Let's just get a big house we all can live in!"_

She chuckled. "Oh, Lucy. Why aren't you calling me back?" her voice cracked in the silence of her car. She looked up as the train flew by in front of her. "Finally." She straightened in her seat, ready to take off as soon as the train had passed and the barriers were raised. Forgetting that she'd turned her ringer on; she jumped when the sound pierced through the silence. Quickly, she looked at the screen. _Cary. _"Did you talk to Lucy?"

"No. That's why I was calling you." He sighed. "Alicia… They're saying that there were casualties." She could hear the hesitation in his voice. "And I know that Will should have been there." His voice barely a whisper.

She closed her eyes. "I'm on my way there now." Her own voice sounded unfamiliar to her ears.

"I'll meet you there."

She ended the call without saying goodbye. Unable to hold them back anymore, her tears start to flow down her face.

"_So there we have it. A plan."_

_She nodded and smiled at him. "Now let's just hope that nothing-"_

"_Shh shh shh. Don't say it. No matter what happens. We're not letting anything get in the way this time. I'm not going anywhere."_

She wiped the tears away and they were immediately replaced with new ones as the lights started to flash on the barriers signaling that they were about to go up.

"_Your appointment is tomorrow, right?" Lucy nodded in the passenger seat. "I believe I made sure my schedule was clear so that I could go with you."_

"_You don't have to. I can go alone."_

"_No way. That's my niece or nephew, I said I would be there for you and I want to be." She smiled at the prospect of hearing the baby's heartbeat._

Her sobs were interrupted by the blaring of the car horns behind her, alerting her that the road had been cleared. Silently, she thanked whoever was responsible for her change in luck as she was able to keep her momentum, no longer meeting every red light. Blocks away from the courthouse, traffic is at a standstill. Knowing the area well, she takes an immediate right and parks in the lot of a department store, choosing to walk the rest of the way.

Within minutes, the building loomed in front of her. Countless police cars and ambulances surrounded it. Crowds of people making it difficult for her to make her way to someone she could get answers from. Spotting a police officer a few feet away from her, she pushed her way through the crowd. "Excuse me. Officer?"

Shaking his head, "No one is allowed past ma'am."

"Can I just-"

"Please stay where you are."

Exasperated, she put her arms out. "Does it look like I can walk through the damn barrier? I'm trying to ask you a question!" He continued walking away.

"Alicia."

She quickly turned. "Diane." She searched the woman's face for any clue.

"He was inside." She answered the unvoiced question. "So was Kalinda. She was meeting me here, but I was running late." She added quietly, looking away into the crowd in front of them. She looked back to Alicia and shook her head. "They haven't told me anything."

Inhaling deeply and gripping the police barrier in front of her for support, she fought the new onslaught of tears. Feeling Diane's hand on her left forearm in a comforting gesture, she looked up meeting her gaze with her own; noticing for the first time that she too had shed tears.

"I'm sure he's fine." She whispered.

Taking another deep breath, she nodded in agreement. "Right. I'm sure he is. Lucy… We think Lucy was in there as well."

Sighing, she gave a gentle squeeze to her forearm. "They won't even say which room it was. They're not releasing any details."

"Hey. Were you able to find out anything?" Cary approached them.

Alicia shook her head, weakly. "I tried to ask, but they won't even listen to me."

"Do they know who you are?" he asked.

"What?"

"Alicia, you're the First Lady of Illinois."

"Cary now is not the time to-"

"No, Alicia, he's right. Use that to your advantage." Diane told her.

"Excuse me! Hello? Officer! Over here!" Cary yelled and waved him over.

"Look, I've already told the lady-"

"I would highly suggest you take note of the _lady_ that you are addressing." Cary warned him.

"I'm sorry?"

"You are speaking to the First Lady of Illinois. She is looking for family and friends who were inside when the incident occurred." Cary informed him. The officer looked at Alicia who made eye contact, standing taller. "Now if you cannot or will not help her, I suggest that you find someone who will or she is left no choice but to call the governor for his assistance."

"My…my apologies, ma'am. I'll get my supervisor right away." He replied before rushing off.

"I can't believe we just did that." Alicia muttered under her breath.

"Desperate times…" Cary said.

"No! I do not need to go to the hospital! And you need to stop touching me!" They all whipped around to the left of them.

"Would you stop being such a stubborn brat?!" Will turned to the paramedic. "She's pregnant and…" he turned back to Lucy. "Kalinda said she pushed you down when she heard the first gunshot. Right?" he asked Kalinda, who, shocked by this bit of information, simply nodded in response. Turning back to the paramedic, "So she should get checked out, right?"

"I'm fine!" she yelled.

"I don't care what you think you are!" he yelled back. "You're going to get checked out." He said, calmer.

"Will." She breathed, feeling the relief washing over every cell of her body. She wanted to run to him. To wrap her arms around him. To smother him with kisses. Tell him, repeatedly, how much she loved him. However, she was well aware of the fact that they were surrounded by the media and they, in turn, were now well aware of her identity.

"Mrs. Florrick." She turned to see an older detective hurriedly making his way to her. "My sincerest apologies for any delay you may have experienced. One of my officers has informed me that you are in search of family that may have been inside?"

"Alicia?" she turned to see Lucy and Will staring at her.

Making eye contact with Will, she exhaled and smiled, trying to tell him everything she felt with her eyes.

"_You have the most expressive eyes that I've ever known anyone to possess. One of the many things I love about you."_

"Thank you." She smiled at the detective and nodded in their direction. "I found them."

Quickly, he pulled away the barrier so they could pass. "If we can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to let us know."

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked her as she let her envelope her in a tight hug.

Looking up at Will behind her, "I tried calling you so many times. I started to think the worst." Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he saw that it was still off and looked at her apologetically. She pulled away and looked at her. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"She should go to the hospital." Will cut in. "Kalinda pushed her down, what if, you know…"

Alicia looked to Kalinda. "Thank you."

She smiled faintly and nodded. "She should get checked out, just in case." To which Lucy groaned.

"So none of you were in the line of fire?" Diane asked.

"We were in the hall directly outside of the courtroom he was in, which is where it happened." Kalinda told her.

Diane looked at Will, wide-eyed. "You were in there?"

He shook his head. "We were in judge's chambers trying to come up with a deal." He explained.

"Thank God." She replied.

"We should let the paramedics take you in now, Lucy." Cary told her.

"Oh my God. Are you really all going to make me do this?" She rolled her eyes when they all nodded.

"Besides, if your sister gets here and finds out we didn't? She'd probably kill us." Alicia told her.

"Tess is coming?" she nodded in response. "Ugh. You all are so dramatic." She whined as she let the paramedic help her into the ambulance.

"We're dramatic? Right. Sure." Will teased as he helped Alicia climb in behind her. When she turned and thanked him with a smile, he mouthed that he would call her later.

* * *

"You know, when I told you to keep mom busy, I didn't mean anything this drastic." Zach joked.

They were all gathered in Alicia's living room. Tess had arrived at the hospital while Lucy was being checked out. Owen and Veronica were waiting for them when they reached home.

Lucy giggled and leaned in to Tess, who had not left her side since arriving. "Shut up, punk."

"So, you and Uncle Owen are going to have a baby?" Grace asked, trying to make sense of the situation.

"I know it's confusing Grace, imagine how I feel?" Owen said as he walked in carrying a tray that held mugs of hot chocolate, while Veronica trailed him holding three glasses of wine. Two of which she handed to Alicia and Tess.

"So, it took the possibility of me dying to get you to talk to me?" Lucy asked Owen, causing Tess to lightly smack the side of her head, reproachfully. "Sorry."

He sighed dramatically. "I just needed time."

Tess eyed Alicia, who stood across the room, staring into her wine glass, not engaging in the conversation.

"Doesn't matter. We're all family and that means we will be there for one another." Veronica held up her glass. "Here's to all of us being safe and healthy." She looked behind her as Alicia walked out of the room headed toward her bedroom. "Alicia? Where are you going?" She moved to follow her.

"Oh! Veronica…" she jumped up from her spot on the sofa next to Lucy. "Let me?" she nodded in response and smiled as she watched her go.

She found Alicia sitting on her bed, propped up against her headboard, pillow in her lap. "Hey you." She gently closed the door before taking a seat in front of her. "What's up?"

Smiling faintly, she shook her head. "Nothing."

"Oh come on. It may have been years since we've spent time together, but I know you. Something is bothering you." She put her hand on her knee. "You know you can talk to me."

She nodded. "I know." She took a shaky breath and shrugged. "I…I don't know. I feel…I'm so relieved that Lucy is ok. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to her." Her voice cracked.

"But…" Tess pushed.

"I don't know. It's weird. I'm happy, but I have this unsettling feeling. As if I'm missing something." She whispered.

"I see. Could the something that you feel you are missing be Will?"

"What?"

"Look, you went through every emotion today trying to find out what, if anything, happened to him." Alicia shifted her gaze downward. "Then, when you see him…see that he is alive and well…you can't even deal with your feelings properly." She tilted her head and tried to make her look at her. "Am I close?" Her sniffles were all the answer she needed.

"I thought he was gone." She whispered, before giving in to her tears.

"Oh, honey." Wrapping her arms around her, she soothed her as she cried softly into her shoulder.

They heard the doorbell ring and Grace say that she had it. A soft knock on the door and Zach poked his head in. "Mom? It's Mr. Gold."

Trying and failing to wipe her tears away before Zach saw her, "Oh God." She groaned. "I can't deal with him right now."

"He's insisting on talking to you."

Tess looked from him to Alicia. "Who's that?"

"Peter's Chief of Staff."

"So?" she turned back to Zach. "Tell him your mom isn't available."

"We tried that already."

"Well then…" she said as she stood. "I will."

He moved out of her way as she walked out of the bedroom and turned back to his mom. "Are you ok?"

She nodded and smiled to reassure him. "I'm fine."

"You were crying."

Shrugging, "It's been an emotional day."

He walked over and sat next to her. "But, Aunt Lucy and the baby…they're ok. Right?"

"They are."

He eyed her for a few seconds. "It wasn't just them that you were worried about, was it?"

Looking at him, she reached over and ran her hand through his hair, sighing. "You should go make sure Tess isn't eating Eli alive." She joked.

Smirking, he moved to stand but changed his mind and turned to hug her, surprising her. "I love you, Mom. I always will, no matter what."

Choking on the emotion his words brought to the surface, she hugged him back and kissed his head. "I love you, too."

/

"Can I help you?" Eli gaped at her, grasping for words and finding nothing but air. "Ummm…"

Shaking his head, he gathered his senses and looked at her again. "Alicia… I'm here to see Alicia."

"That's what the kids told me, but she's not available at the moment, Mr.…?"

"Gold. Eli…Gold." He stammered. "It's actually imperative-"

"I don't think it is."

Taken aback, he blinked repeatedly before answering. "I'm sorry?"

"Whatever it is that you need to talk to Alicia about, I'm sure it can wait." She raised her hand to stop his protest. "Look, she's had a rough day as I'm sure you are aware."

"I was with her when she was informed."

"Well, then it should come as no surprise that she would like to be left alone with her family for the remainder of the day."

He nodded once. "Of course."

"Good night, Mr. Gold." She said, closing the door before he could respond.

He stood with his mouth open as he was ready to respond and immediately shut it, looking at the closed door in front of him, confused. "What just happened?"

/

"All taken care of!" she exclaimed as she walked back into her bedroom, finding her now seated on the edge of her bed. "He's kinda cute. All flustered and stuff."

Alicia looked at her, disgusted. "I'm not even going to grant that a response."

She laughed and sat next to her again. "Why don't you go to him?"

"Huh?"

"Will. Go to him."

"I can't do that, Tess." She sighed.

"Why not? You're a mess right now…because of him. Going to see him will make you feel better. He's always made you feel better." She pushed her playfully. "Come on. No one has to know where you're going."

She chuckled. "Except, they'll all know exactly where I'm going."

Tess waved her hand to dismiss what she'd said. "Ah, whatever. I'll cover for you."

Taking a deep, shaky breath, she turned to her. "I…I need your help."

"Need me to watch the kids? No problem. Come on, fix yourself up. I'll help." She jumped up.

"No no no, Tess. Not that." She sighed.

Slowly, she sat back down next to her, a look of concern on her face. "Alicia… What is it? Whatever you need help with, I'm here for you."

* * *

Flipping through the channels aimlessly, he took another gulp of the beer in his hand. Unable to find anything of interest, he turned it off. For the umpteenth time that night, he picked up his phone and located her name in his contacts. He wanted to call her. He wanted to make sure she was ok. He couldn't shake that look in her eyes when she saw him earlier. Sighing, he sat back on his sofa and rested his legs on his coffee table.

It bothered him that he couldn't quite pinpoint the emotion he faced in her gaze. Was it fear? Relief? No. That was too simple. It was more than that. He felt it. He knew he could call her with the excuse that he was checking on Lucy. But, he realized that a phone call wouldn't suffice right now. He needed to see her. He wanted…no…he needed to hold her.

_Bolting upright out of his sleep, he looked around frantically from his spot on the sofa, trying to locate the reason for his being awoken. Rubbing his eyes, he picked up the remote from the coffee table and lowered the volume on the TV. Hearing the rain pelting against his windows, he realized it must have been the thunder. He jumped when he heard a loud knock on his door._

_He opened the door to find Alicia, dripping wet from head to toe and looking very upset. "Leesh… What…"_

"_Can I come in?" she whispered._

"_Get in here." He said as he pulled her inside by her arm. "I thought you were coming back tomorrow." Noticing that she stood with her head down, sniffling, "Hey, are you ok?" he asked her gently. She shook her head and he saw her shiver. "Hey, come on. Let's get you something dry to change into."_

_A little while later, she emerged from his bathroom clad in a pair of his sweatpants and his Georgetown sweatshirt, her favorite. She continued to dry her hair with the towel he gave her as she walked over to find him laying on the sofa. Tossing the towel onto the nearest chair, she climbed over him and nestled into the space between him and the back of his sofa. _

_Lifting his arm to invite her to lay her head on his chest, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead when she did. "Should I assume that whatever it was your parents wanted to talk to you about this weekend, was not good?"_

"_They suck." She muttered into his chest. _

"_You wanna talk about it?" he felt her lightly shake her head._

_Tightening her hold on him, "Will you just hold me?" _

"_Of course. Whatever you want." He replied, pulling her even closer to him._

Hearing the faint knock on his door, he perked up at the prospect that Kalinda took him up on his offer to come over for drinks when she called to update him on Lucy. A distraction was exactly what he craved right now. However, when he opened his door, he was shocked to see who stood on the other side.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So many passionate reviews! You guys make this absolutely worth it. Thank you! With the start of the new season and unfortunately no Alicia/Will moments to look forward to, I decided this chapter was necessary. ****Dedicated to all of the true blue AW lovers of the fandom (a specific few know this is truly meant for them), I hope you all enjoy!**

**Special shoutout to my darling Sab, our "loyal captain of sinking ships" for being so awesomely helpful and quite honestly the reason this chapter exists. Thank you!**

* * *

Briefly fearing that his thoughts were getting the best of him and he was imagining things, he shook his head, his expression of shock and confusion quickly replaced with a tender smile when he took in the familiar face beaming up at him.

"May I?" she asked softly, her head tilted and a smirk on her lips.

Speechless, he stepped back opening his door wider as way of an invitation. Upon entering, she walked further into his apartment as if it hadn't been well over a year since she'd last been there. He watched as she placed her purse on his sofa, her coat immediately following. Turning around to face him, she sighed as she took a few steps toward him; steps that he quickly met with his own, immediately wrapping his arms around her. Gripping the back of his shirt, she held on to him tightly, inhaling the calming scent of his cologne.

Gently, he ran his hands along her back, feeling her relax against him. "I'm surprised to see you here." He whispered. The last thing he expected to find on the other side of his door was a casually dressed Alicia with her hair pulled back. This look on her took him back to their Georgetown days. A time that forever held a special place in his heart.

Pulling away from him slightly, she leaned her chin against his chest and looked up into his eyes. "I needed to see you. To…feel you." She replied, quietly. Slowly, he leaned his head down and placed his lips on hers in a gentle kiss. It was supposed to be just that; a kiss. Until he felt her hands wrap around his neck, deepening their connection and steering them in a more passionate direction. Giving in to the moment, he pulled her closer, holding her tightly against his body.

Feeling his senses start to lose control, he pulled away, breathless and sighed. "We should stop." Gazing up at him, a soft smirk on her lips, she started undoing the buttons of his shirt. He placed his hands on hers, stopping her, causing her to look at him, eyebrows raised. "Didn't we decide to wait? You know…the whole plan?"

Sighing, she looked away, disappointed. Smiling as he brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her palm, she turned her gaze back to his. "To hell with the plan." She whispered as she reached up to kiss him. Running her hands up along his chest and down his biceps as she removed his shirt, she placed hurried kisses along every inch of his skin within her reach.

When she reached for his belt, he cupped her face with his hands, kissing her passionately before pulling away, breathless and leaning his forehead against hers. "Slow down. I'm not going anywhere." He whispered. Hooking her fingers into the belt loops of his pants, she smirked up at him as she started to move backward toward his bedroom, pulling him along with her.

/

Feeling the feather-light touch of his lips leaving a trail on her back, she smiled blissfully and sighed, her eyes remaining closed.

"You're awake." He whispered before kissing her neck.

"No, I'm not. Don't stop." She begged as she reached back and placed her hand gently on his cheek, turning slightly to peek through her lashes at him. Seeing his boyish grin, her heart did somersaults. Turning her body to face his, he immediately took advantage of her position and assaulted her with kisses, making her laugh loudly.

"Mmm…I love that sound." He muttered into her chest before lying next to her, face to face and pulling her to him. "Don't even get me started on your smile and how your eyes light up when it's genuine." He kissed her softly. "You have to leave soon, don't you?" he asked as his hand roamed along her side.

Snuggling up closer to him, she nuzzled his nose before placing a quick kiss on his lips. "No." she whispered, smiling. "Unless you want me to." She caressed his cheek lightly.

Pulling back slightly to look at her, "You…you don't need to leave?"

"The kids are with Peter. Tess is staying the weekend to spend some time with Lucy." She shrugged. "There's no reason for me to go home."

His eyes widened. "Are you telling me that I get to have you for the entire weekend?" She couldn't help but giggle at his reaction and the wide smile that spread across his face. "What am I going to do with you for all that time?" He kissed the tip of her nose.

"Well, I have some ideas, but you're going to have to feed me at some point so that I have the energy to carry them out." She teased. "We worked up quite an appetite."

Kissing her neck and then her lips, he moved from her embrace. "I'll go make you something to eat."

"No, no, no. Don't go." Reaching out, she pulled him back down next to her.

Chuckling, he raised his arm so she could lay her head on his chest. "What about refueling your energy?"

Stretching her arm across his body, she reached for his phone on his nightstand and handed it to him. "I'm sure you have multiple delivery options stored in there. Call one of them."

Smirking at her, he scrolled through his contacts. "You think you know me so well." He said as he held the phone up to his ear. "Hi, I'd like to place an order for delivery." He shook his head when she started to laugh. "Shrimp fried rice. Chicken Lo Mein. An order of egg rolls. Yup. Gardner. Thanks." He placed his phone back on the nightstand. "Food will be here in 15 minutes, so they say."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do they have all of your info on file?" He nodded. "See? I do know you well."

"Yeah, yeah." He kissed her head.

She sighed and kissed his chest. "Will…" She whispered. "When I couldn't reach you on the phone today…" She tilted her head to look into his eyes. "I was…scared." He caressed her back in a soothing motion. "I started to think the worst. Thought I missed my chance to make things right between us. That our infamous bad timing had struck yet again."

"Hey…don't talk like that. I'm fine. Everything is going to be okay."

"I know." Entwining her hand with his, she kissed his fingers. "Just the thought of not being able to do this or lay here with you like this or talk to you…"

"Or do all of the things we did earlier?" he joked as he rolled her onto her back and nibbled on her earlobe.

Laughing, she playfully pushed him away from her. "You have such a one-track mind!"

"What do you expect from me when I have you in my bed, naked?"

Grabbing her leg and wrapping it around his waist, his tongue caressing her neck, eliciting a moan from her. She grasped his neck, pulling his mouth to hers while running her free hand along his back. Biting lightly on his neck, he groaned in response. "Dammit." She muttered when his doorbell rang.

"Of all times for them to get here when they say they will." Jumping up from the bed, he grabbed the blanket, wrapping it around his waist, leaving her covered with a sheet. "Don't move." He ordered before running out of the room.

* * *

"…_shooting at the criminal courthouse yesterday…"_

Slowly, she lifted her head and turned to see that Will was not lying next to her. Looking around, she noticed the open bedroom door.

"…_two deaths confirmed…several injured…"_

Rising from the bed, she searched for something to put on and found his shirt lying on the floor. Shrugging into it and wrapping it around her body, she walked out of the room and followed the scent of coffee and sizzling bacon. Glancing at the TV on her way, she saw the news reporting on the shooting. "Ugh. I just want to forget that ever happened." She muttered.

"Hey, look who's finally awake." Placing his coffee mug down on the counter, he pulled her to him. "I was starting to wonder if I should go in and wake you up."

"Well, somebody wore me out last night so…"

Smirking, he leaned in to kiss her. "I didn't do it alone."

Peeking around him toward the stove "Is that bacon I smell?" she asked.

"Hungry?"

"Starving."

Pouring her a mug of coffee, he gestured toward the table. "Go sit down, I'll bring the food to you."

"Yes, sir." She watched as he placed pancakes and bacon on the table in front of her. When he joined her, she noticed a can of whipped cream in his hand and eyed him, questioningly.

"You mean to tell me that you do not put this on your pancakes?"

"Ah, I didn't realize that's what it was for." She smirked.

Shaking his head at her, he pointed to her food. "Eat."

"I am!"

"…_Governor Florrick…press conference…"_

Together, their gazes shifted to the television. Looking away, he lifted his mug and sipped his coffee. Clearing her throat, she stood, searching for his remote and turned it off when she located it. "I'm sorry." He said as she walked back and leaned against the table next to him.

"For what? It's not your fault my husband is the governor." She shrugged. "There's something you should know, though."

"Should I get the scotch?"

Looking down at him, she smiled and shook her head. "Will…things are about to get…even more…complicated."

"Leesh, I told you I'm not going anywhere."

"I know. You also told me to take as much time as I needed. Yesterday…thinking that it could have been you that was shot in that courtroom and how much it hurt to imagine my life without you…" Hearing the tears in her voice, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I don't want to keep doing this." She whispered.

Confused, he shook his head. "You don't…what?"

"I asked Tess to start divorce proceedings." Taking in his expression of shock, she continued. "She's a damn good divorce attorney and all of her clients are high profile. So, she knows how to get things done in a quiet, civilized manner."

"Wow. I was not expecting that."

"Will…" he looked up and into her eyes. "I... We..." she sighed, shaking her head at her inability to form a coherent sentence. "It's taken me awhile to…to find the courage to admit..."

Never breaking eye contact, he stood from his seat and kissed her with all of the passion he was unable to find words to express. Instinctively, her hands found their way up to his neck and through his hair, deepening their kiss. He pulled her closer to his body and she gasped lightly when she felt his erection. Lowering her hand in between them, she ran her fingertips against him lightly, making him groan. "We should take care of this."

"I have a better idea." He lifted her onto the edge of the table and reached behind her, bringing forth the can of whipped cream. Eyeing her seductively, he bit his lower lip while shaking the can and undoing the few buttons of his shirt that she wore.

"Here?" she raised her brow, feigning disbelief.

"Why not?" He asked as he poured the first of the cream onto her neck, licking it off slowly, titillating her senses.

Lower and lower he moved with the whipped cream, continuing his ministrations on her body, causing her breathing to quicken and moans to escape from deep within her. Pulling his chair over, he once again sat and squeezed the cream onto the insides of her thighs. He took his time licking it off of her, biting her softly as he did. His close proximity to where she wanted him most began to send waves through her body. "Will…" she panted. "I don't think I can…" Feeling the cold of the whipped cream on her, she looked down and made eye contact with him as he tightened his grip on her hips and positioned himself in front of her. Smiling before turning his attention back to pleasuring her, his tongue finally met her sensitive spot causing her to cry out in pleasure and lay back on the table. She gripped the edge above her head as she soon gave in to her orgasm.


End file.
